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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE 



A Handbook of the Resources, Products, 
Industries and Climate of New Mexico. 





Compiled and Edited by 

MAX. FROST and PAUL A. F. WALTER, 

Under and by the Authority of the Bureau of Immigration. 



. -. - > 



JAMES S. DUNCAN, PuNic Printer. 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 3 

1 esources and proximity to the markets of Mexico and the 
Orient. 

For the Husbandman. 

Farmers are wanted to till the soil under the most favorable 
conditions and with home markets that pay better prices than 
any eastern market. Only a quarter of a million of acres are 
under cultivation; four times that area is immediately avail- 
able for agricultural purposes. Not one-half of the flowing 
waters are utihzed and not one-fiftieth of the flood waters are 
stored. New Mexico raises the finest fruit in the world and 
every other crop that can be produced anywhere in the tem- 
perate zone. Yet, it imports annually millions of dollars worth 
of flour, alfalfa, hay, potatoes, garden produce, poultry, eggs, 
butter and other products that it can and should raise at home. 
Free lands, an ideal chmate, irrigation, churches, schools, rail- 
road facilities, home markets, good prices and extensive range, 
are all factors which help to make the life of the farmer and 
stock grower in New Mexico pleasant and prosperous. 

For the Miner. 

Miners are needed. New Mexico lies in the same mineral 
zone as Colorado with the difference that Colorado has been 
well prospected and the opportunities and chances for discov. 
ering bonanzas are very limited, while in New Mexico, there 
has been very little systematic prospecting and the mining 
field is open to every newcomer. 

For the Health Seeker. 

Health seekers are invited. New Mexico does not intend to 
shut the door upon them. Eastern phj^sicians recognize that 
its climate offers the best conditions under which those suffer- 
ing from lung, throat and nervous troubles can effect a cure. 
Colorado climate is good, California climate is good, Arizona 
climate is better, but New Mexico climate is best of all. This 
is no longer a theory, but an acknowledged fact. The United 
States government has recognized the superiorit}'' of New 
Mexico in this respect by establishing in the Territory a 
Marine Hospital for consumptives at Fort Stanton and an 
Army and Navy Hospital for consumptives at Fort Bayard, and 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 5 

the story of the cures that have been achieved, is now a part 
of official records. Ample accommodations are offered by tent 
cities, hotels, sanitaria and homes in the larger towns as well 
as the smaller settlements and at the various hot springs, 
which latter are gaining renown for their potent medicinal 
virtues. 

For the Tourist. 

Tourists are welcomed. New Mexico has superb mountain 
scenery, quiet and picturesque valleys, unparalleled historic 
and prehistoric attractions. It is the land of the Cliff Dwellers ; 
of the Pueblo Indians; of the Indian dances: of the Conquista- 
dores: of towns and buildings older than the oldest historic 
monuments of any other part of the United States; of scenery 
grand and unique; and to the sportsman it offers good hunting 
and excellent fishing. 




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CHAPTER II. 

STATISTICS. 

i^i^r bHAT has been accomplished here by the comparative 
M M I few, with the employment of limited capital and 
^^kl by a mere touch of development, is demonstrated 
^r^^ by the following figures which have been carefully 
compiled from official statistics: 
Area: 122,469 square miles. 

Population. 

Estimated population, 284,000, in 1904; by the census of 1900, 
195,310; 1H90, 153,503; 1880, 119,565; 1870, 91,874: 1860, 87,034: 
including Arizona and southern Colorado, 1850, 61,547. Of 
the present population, 144,000 came from the states or are 
children of parents from the states; 127,000 are of native Span- 
ish or Mexican descent; 13,000 are Indians. Of the 66,396 
wage-earners in the census year of 1900, 40 per cent or 27,215 
were engaged in agricultural pursuits; 19,478 in domestic 
service; 10,378 in manufacturing, mining and as mechanics: 
7,208 in trade, and 2,118 in the professions or in government 
service. i 

An estimate of the population of New Mexico from registra- 
tion and school census returns: Males of voting age, 69,000; 
females of the same age, 68,030; persons of school age, 68,000; 
foreigners not citizens, 5,000; Indians, 13,000; children under 
the age of five, 61,000; total, 284,000. 

Farms and Farm Products. 

Number of farms, 1890, 4,45H: in 1900, 11,834. Acres in 
farms in 1890, 787,8H2; in 1900, 5,130,878. Value of farms in 
1890, $33,548,141, in 1900, $53,737,824. Value of farm lands, 
1890, $8,140,800; 1900, $20,888,824. Value of farm implements, 
1890, $291,140; 1900, $1,151,610. Value of Hve stock, 1890, 
$25,111,201; 1900, $31,727,400. Value of farm products, 1890, 
$2,000,000; 1900, $10,000,000. Acres in alfalfa, 1H90, 12,139; 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 9 

liiOO, 55,467. Acres under cultivation, 1890, 91,745; 1900, 
203,083. Butter, l'890, 105,000 pounds; 1900, 381,000 pounds. 
Eggs, 1890, 280,000 dozen; 1900, 840,000 dozen. Hay, 1900, 
$1,427,317. Cereak, 1900, $978,903. Vegetables, 1900, $278,- 
413. Orchards, Ic^X), $197,331. Other products, 1900, $374,537. 
Acres under irrigation, 1900, 326,873. Improved farms, 1900, 
12,411. Farms under irrigation, 1900, 9,128. Value of irrigated 
farms, 1900, $13,551,582. Value of non-irrigated farms, 1900, 
$3,773,177. 

The above statistics do not take into consideration the lands 
cultivated by the Indians, the Pueblos being farmers and 
great producers of crops; nor of crops raised on farms of less 
than three acres, of which there are many. 

Climate. 

The United States weather bureau at Santa Fe, which covers 
the entire Territory, reports for 1903, 29 cloudy days out of 
365: 80 per cent of sunshine; a maximum velocity of the wind 
of 46 miles an hour, and an average velocity of 6.8 miles an 
hour; an annual mean temperature of 48.7 per cent; a maxi- 
mum temperature of 89 degrees; a minimum temperature of 
4 degrees; a precipitation of 9.79 inches, a maximum monthly 
precipitation of 2.49 inches, a minimum monthly precipitation 
of 0.02 of an inch. 

Lands. 

Subject to entry under the federal land laws June 30, 1903, 
52,000,000 acres. Included in the three forest reserves, 5,125,- 
000 acres; in land grants approved by congress or the courts 
9,963,200 acres; by the court of private land claims, 1,934,986 
acres. The land grants approved by congress include 549,065 
acres belonging to the Indians. Public lands entered from 
June 30, 1900, to June 30, 1903, 2,179,738 acres. By years: 
From June 30, 1900, to June 30, 1901, 655,739 acres; June 30, 
1901, to June 30, 1902, 441,871 acres; June 30, 1902, to June 30, 
1903, 1,082,128 acres. Of the above areas the following were 
entered under the homestead laws from June 30, 1900, to June 
30, 1903, 1,120,477 acres. By years: From June 30, 1900, to 
June 30, 1901, 265,524 acres; from June 30, 1901, to June 30 




BERNALILLO COUNTY COURT HOUSE 
AT ALBUQUERQUE. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 11 

1902, 396,757 acres; from June 30, 1902, to June 30, 1903, 
468,196 acres. 

Desert land entries, June 30, 1900, to June 30, 1903, 129,395 
acres. By years: From June 30, 1900, to June 30, 1901, 8,472 
acres: from June 30, 1901, to June 30, 1902, 46,596, acres, 
from June 30, 1902, to June 30, 1903, 74,565 acres. 

Mineral Production. 

From 1860 to 1900 there were produced $17,600,000 worth 
of gold. In 1903, New Mexico produced: Gold, $384,685; sil- 
ver, $148,659; copper, $860,737; lead, $94,936; a total of 
$1,489,016. This does not include the production by individual 
placer miners or by prospectors not mining in a systematic 
manner. In addition there were produced large quantities of 
coal, iron, turquoise, gypsum, building material, and a num- 
ber of useful minerals and precious stones. 

The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company during the fiscal year 
hauled 138,151 long tons of iron ore out of Grant county. The 
director of the mint gives the gold production of New Mexico 
for 1903 at $531,000, and of silver at $586,000. 

Coal. 

Area of prospected coal lands, 1,493,480 acres; amount of 
coal in sight, 8,813,840,000 tons valued at $10,000,000,000. Coal 
produced from June 30, 1900, to June 30, 1903, 3,710,000 tons, 
valued at $5,011,281. Coke produced during the same period, 
94,697 tons, valued at $252,642. There were twenty-eight coal 
mines worked during the past year; three new mines were 
opened, one resumed, and two were abandoned. Coal produced 
from June 30, 1900, to June 30, 1901, 1,217,230 tons, valued at 
$1,605,174; from June 30, 1901, to June 30, 19l)2, 1,322,944 tons, 
$1,609,848; from June 30, 1902, to June 30, 1903, 1,359,530 tons, 
valued at $1,795,208. Coke as follows: From June 30, 1900, 
to June 30, 1901, 42,732 tons, valued at$117,516; from June 30, 
1901 to June 30, 1902, 25,012 tons, valued at $58,207; from June 
30, 1902, to June 30, 1903, 26,353 tons, valued at $76,919. Men 
employed in the coal mines June 30, 1901, 1,870; June 30, 1902, 
1,682; June 30, 1903, 2,341. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 13 

Railroads. 

There were 1,679 miles of railroad on June 30, 1900; 1,9^1 
miles on June 30, 1901: 2,263 miles on June 30, 1902; 2,520 
miles on June 30, 1903, a total increase in three years of 841 
miles. 

Stock. 

According to the best estimates, there are here 1,123,000 
head of cattle; 5,674,000 sheep, 250,000 goats, 97,500 horses. 
The wool crop in 1903 was 22,000,000 pounds. During the last 
fiscal year there were shipped out of the territory 184,602 cat- 
tle, 5,562 horses and 422,252 sheep. 

Internal Revenue. 

From June 30, 1900, to June 30, 1903, New Mexico paid 
$130,375 in internal revenue. For the year ending June 30, 
1903, $33,918; for the year ending June 30, 1902, $37,847; for 
the year ending June 30, 1901, $58,607. 

Incorporations. 

In the past three fiscal years 553 companies filed incorpora- 
tion papers, with a capitalization of $309,711,966 with the Ter- 
ritorial Secretary. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, 
149 companies incorporated with a capital stock of $89,735,925; 
in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1902, 204 companies incor- 
porated, with a capitalization of $119,446,500; in the year end- 
ing June 30, 1903, 200 companies incorporated, with a capitali- 
zation of $100,529,541. Incorporation fees paid to the Territo- 
rial Treasurer were as follows: Fiscal year 1900, $5,772.25; 
1901, $7,640.75; 1902, $10,706; 1903, $13,628.50, a total of 
$37,747.50. 

Assessment. 

In 1900, projjerty real and personal, subject to taxation, was 
5,364,761: in 1901 the assessment was $36,977,047; in 1902, 
^,633,993: in 1903 it had risen to $41,832,566, including ex- 
emptions amounting to $2,235,615, leaving an assessment sub- 
ject to taxation of $39,596,951. Property in New Mexico is 
assessed at an average of only 30 per cent of its real value. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 15 

Indebtedness. 

On June oO, 1901, the indebtedness of the Territory was 
$1,1S0,^<00; on June 30, 1902, it was $1,123,800 and the sinking 
fund !j;f-(9,246; on June 30, 1903, the indebtedness was $1,098,- 
000 and the sinking fund $234,590. This shows a reduction of 
$270,090 in three years. On June 30, 1904, the bonded indebt- 
edness was $1,062,900, and the sinking funds amounted to 
$208,165. 

Taxes Collected. 

Revenue of the Territory the past three years was $1,545,- 
241; of which $1,127,689 came from direct taxation; $419,622 
collected during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903; $332,328 
collected during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1902, and 
$375,738 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901. From other 
sources Territorial revenue was derived to the amount of 
$407,542, $142,758 being received during the fiscal 3^ear ending 
June 30, 1901 ; $118,005 during the year ending June 30, 1902, 
and $156,788 during the year ending June 30, 1903. 

Federal appropriations for disbursement in New Mexico 
during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, $423,070. 

Territorial tax rate, 1900, 14.05 mills; 1901, 14.28 mills; 1902, 
13.09 mills; 1903, 15.51 mills; 1904, 14 mills. 

Insurance Companies. 

During the past three fiscal years insurance companies 
authorized to do business in New Mexico collected in pre- 
miums $1,998,444 and paid out for losses, $672,415. Life in- 
surance companies wrote in the three years, policies amount- 
ing to $6,552,669; tire insurance companies $39,233,614; and 
miscellaneous insurance comjoanies, $5,246,885; a total of 
$51,033,168. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, 
there were written in New Mexico life insurance policies 
amounting to $3,095,854, fire insurance policies to the amount 
of $15,549,968,- miscellaneous policies to the amount of $2,916,- 
414, and premiums collected to the amount of $766,389; while 
in the year previous $655,015 were collected in i:»remiums, and 
the year previous to that $577,039; losses paid during the past 
fiscal year, $251,342; the year previous, $234,236, and the year 
previous to that $186,836. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 17 

Public Buildings and Grounds. 

The Territory maintains fifteen Territorial institutions, the 
value of their buildings and grounds is $2,000,000, without the 
grants of public lands made to them by congress. In addi- 
tion, the Territory grants subsidies to seven hospitals and an 
orphan asylum maintained by rehgious and charitable organi- 
zations. The value of the public school property of the Terri- 
tory is $690,697, not counting the school sections in each 
township. The value of the public property of counties and 
towns, not counting grants to towns hke Santa Fe, Las Vegas, 
Albuquerque, Socorro, etc., is $495,000, making a total value 
of public property, not including lands, of $3,185,697. 

Educational. 

School population: 1903, 68,152; 1902, 62,864; 1901, 53,008. 
The school population includes all persons between the ages 
of five and twenty-one years, and the census is taken an- 
nually. 

Enrollment in the public schools: 1903, 37,646; 1902, 35,327. 
1901, 31,510; 1900, 21,761. 

Average daily attendance: 1903, 24,856; 1902, 22,573; 1901, 
19,451. 

Pubhc schools: 1903, 665; 1902, 603; 1901, 599. 

Teachers: 1903, 757; 1902, 712; 1901, 671. 

Expenditures: 1903, $287,545; 1902, $324,784; 1901, $202,882. 

Receipts from all sources: 1903, $454,342; 1902, $424,365. 

Average school term four months; average salary paid 
teachers, 156 a month; total value of all school property, $2,- 
071,702; enrollment of pupils in all of the schools, 42,925; an- 
nual expenditures for all of the schools, $722,048; total expen- 
ditures for the public schools the jjast three years, $815,212. 

Churches. 

The Roman Catholic Church in New Mexico has one arch, 
bishop, one bishop, one vicar general, forty-six priests, and 
forty -three secular priests. It has forty-two churches with 
resident priests, 325 mission churches, six academies for 
young girls, one college, eight parochical schools, two board- 



THE LAXD OF SUNSHINE. 19 

ing schools for Indians, with 300 pupils, two day schools for 
Indians, with 200 pupils; two academies for boys. 

Presbj'terian. forty-seven congregations, thirty preaching 
stations, 2,225 members; 1,936 Sunday school members; value 
of school propert}^ Sh6,500; twentj'-four mission schools 
taught by fortj'-five teachers, and an enrollment of 1,750 
13upils. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church has jDarishes in all of the 
larger towns and is doing energetic missionary work. New 
Mexico and Arizona form a missionary diocese, with episco- 
pal headquarters at Phoenix, Arizona. 

Methodist E^^iscopal, seventeen English speaking congrega- 
tions, a number of Spanish speaking congregations and sev- 
eral mission schools. 

Baptist Churches thirty-six, of which four became self sup- 
porting during the past year, one college, and a number of 
mission schools. 

Lutheran Churches three. 

Mormons, two churches, with 277 souls. A few scattered 
members in addition at Bloomfield. 

The Congregational, five churches, 302 members, six mis- 
sion schools, 500 jDupils. 

The Christian and other Protestant denominations have 
about twenty congregations in the Territor3^ 

The Hebrews have synagogues at Las Vegas and Albuquer- 
que, and have church organizations in three or four of the 
larger cities. The number of Hebrews in the Territorj^ is 695. 

Newspapers. 

There are seventy-five newspapers published in New Mex- 
ico, six of them daily, sixty-four weekly, and five monthly. 
Five of the daily papers have a complete Associated Press 
service. 

New Towns. 

The many new towns that have been founded, since the 
coming of railroads to New Mexico and their steady growth, 
are proof that the Territory is not standing still. Within the 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 21 

last five years, cities and towns like Alamogordo, Portales, 
Tucumcari, Capitan, Estancia, Artesia and Roy have been 
founded, while Roswell, Carlsbad, Gallup, Aztec and many 
others are settlements of recent birth, and it is onlj" in the past 
two decades that Albuquerque, Las Vegas and Raton have de- 
veloped from small villages into hustling, progressive cities. 

Banks. 

The following twentj^-one national banks, fifteen of them es- 
tablished since 1900, are today doing business in New Mexico. 
The date of their establishment and their paid-up capital are 
given, not including surplus or undivided profits: First Na- 
tional Bank of Alamogordo, Otero county, established 1900, 
capital $36,800; First National Bank, Albuquerque, Bernalillo 
county, 1878, $200,000; State National Bank, Albuquerque, 
1904, 1100,000; First National Bank, Artesia, 1904, $25,000; 
First National Bank, Belen, 1903, $25,000; First National Bank, 
Carlsbad, 1900, $50,000; National Bank of Carlsbad, 1903, $30,- 
000; First National Bank, Clayton, 1900, $50,000: Deming Na- 
tional Bank, Deming, 1903, $10,000; First National Bank, Farm- 
ington, 1902, $25,000; First National Bank, Las Vegas, 1879, 
$100,000; San Miguel National Bank, Las Vegas, 1880, $100,000; 
First National Bank, Portales, 1902, $25,000; First National 
Bank, Raton, 1902, $75,000; First National Bank, Roswell, 1892, 
$50,000; Citizens' National Bank, Roswell, 1902, $50,000; Ros- 
well National Bank, 1903, $50,000; First National Bank, Santa 
Fe, 1870, $150,000; First Naticmal Bank, Santa Rosa, 1902, $25,- 
000; Silver City National Bank, Silver City, 1886, $50,000; First 
National Bank, Tucumcari, 1902, $25,000. 

The following were the state banks doing business in the 
Territory on July 1, 1904, and their capital stock: Andrew Mor- 
t(m & Company, Springer, $5,000; Bank of Deming, Deming, 
$30,000; Bank of Commerce, Albuquerque, $82,400; Exchange 
Bank, White Oaks, $30,000; Bank of Portales, Portales, $30,- 
000; Plaza Trust & Savings Bank, Las Vegas, $15,000; Sierra 
County Bank, Hillsboro, $30,000; J. N. Broyles, San Marcial, 
$20,000; Las Vegas Savings Bank, Las Vegas, $30,0(X); Silver 
City Savings Bank, Silver City, $15,000. 




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CHAPTER III. 
THE LAND OF HEALTH AND SUNSHINE. 

nEW MEXICO invites metaphors, it compels superla- 
tives. Bathed in sunshine, swept by the cool winds 
of the mountains, endow^ed with untold mineral 
wealth, colored with the hues of the sunset and hal- 
lowed by the romance of the Conquistadores and the Francis- 
cans, it stands unique among the commonwealths of the 
Union. The Land of Sunshine, one talented author calls it; 
the Land of Poco Tiempo, the Land of Sunshine, Silence and 
Adobe; the Land of the Turquoise Sky; the Land of the Con- 
quistadores; the Land of the Pueblos; the Land of the Sun 
King, and many more have been the attempts to coin a dis- 
tinctive phrase that would characterize the vivid impression 
that New Mexico's cUmatological, physical and ethnological 
characteristics make upon the visitor. ''The Land of Health 
and Sunshine,"' comes, perhaps, closest in summarizing what 
gives the Territory its distinctive atmosphere. But there are 
volumes of romance, of history, of scenic beauties, of climate, 
of natural wealth, of progress, that can be written and have 
been written with New Mexico as their subject. But after 
all has been said, the fact remains, that it is climate and sun- 
shine, that set the Territory apart from the other common- 
wealths; that directly or indirectly influence all its indus- 
tries, all its activities, its very nature. Nowhere else in the 
world is there found a more perfect chmate and but few sec- 
tions can boast of a climate as good. It is not only a lovely day 
now and then, not only a tine summer or a pleasant winter, 
but a perfect ah-the-year around chmate that is making New 
Mexico the sanitarium of the world, the refuge of those 
stricken by one or the other of the many forms of lung, throat 
and nervous troubles and of invalids from other causes. It is 
this fact which must be borne constantly in mind when read- 
ing of New Mexico's resources, developed and undeveloped 
wealth, and its manifold industries, as they are briefly out- 
lined in this volume. 






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THE LAND OP SUNSHINE. 25 

Physical Features. 

New Mexico is part of the roof of the American continent. 
From one side of this roof the waters flow into the Atlantic 
and from the other side into the Pacific. The roof not only 
slopes to the east and to the west but also from the north to 
the south, there being a difference of 3,000 feet in the average 
altitude of its northern and of its southern boundaries. The 
ridge of the roof which traverses the western part of New 
Mexico varies in altitude from 4,000 to over 13,000 feet. From 
this ridge branch off at right angles or run almost parallel to 
it, many majestic mountain ranges and extensive foothills and 
table lands cut by canons, arroyos and valleys. 

The mountains, though varying in name, are all a part of 
the Rocky Mountain system whose backbone in the northern 
part is the Sangre de Cristo range, lofty and massive, over a 
score of its jieaks rising to an altitude of 13,000 or more feet. 
It extends from the Colorado line through Taos, Colfax, 
Mora and San Miguel, into Santa Fe county and from it flow 
the streams that water the fertile Santa Fe, Espanola, Taos, 
Mora, Cimarron and lesser valleys. The Taos, the Pecos, the 
Santa Fe and the Cimarron ranges are parts of the Sangre de 
Cristo range, and the Cochiti, the Jemez, the Valles, the San 
Mateo and the Zuni mountains, a little northwest of the center 
of the Territory, may be considered as a continuation of it. 
As the center of the Territory, going southward, is reached, 
the mountain ranges are more disconnected and less lofty 
although still massive. Here the Sandia, the Ortiz, the San 
Pedro, the San Isidro, the Manzanos, the Gallinas, are names 
for mountains, some of them rich in mineral wealth and 
others well timbered to their very summits. 

Further south, four distinct ranges, broken of course, can 
be traced, their axes all converging, apparently towards the 
center. The eastern branch is the loftiest and is known as the 
White Mountains, rising to an altitude of almost 14,000 feet. 
Continuing toward the south it is called the Sacramento range, 
while the Guadalupes in the far southeast are an apparent 
extension The second branch is also east of the Rio Grande, 
commencing to the north as the Oscuro range and continuing 
southward as the San Andreas and Organ mountains and ter- 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 27 

minating in t-he Franklin range. The third branch consists 
of the Magdalenas, the San Mateo mountains, the San Cristo- 
bal, the Caballos and the Black Range: while the most west- 
ern fork consists of the Datils and the San Francisco, Tula- 
rosa and Mogollon ranges, extending into the Burro moun- 
tains in Grant county. Besides these there are many appar- 
ently independent mountain groups and ranges, such as the 
Floridas, the Cooks range, the Lad rones, the Peloncillo, the 
Pedernal hills, the Las Animas hills and others, whose geo- 
graphical appellations are hardly of interest to the general 
reader. 

Geology. 

Geologically, these mountains, while part of one system, are 
not alike. The importance of being able to recognize the dis- 
tinctions in their geological formations, is of great economic 
value. 

From both a mining and a purely scientific viewpoint, the 
rocks of Xew Mexico are of exceptional interest. The wide 
range of geological formations represented, the large and di- 
versified deposits of ores and other mineral values which 
these formations are known to contain, and the fact that the 
mineral wealth of the region has been exploited upon a small 
scale only, all go to make Xew Mexico a very interesting field 
to the mining engineer, the expert, the capitalist, the pros- 
pector and the miner. 

The geological formations comprise five very marked 
classes of rock material. At the base is a great mass of crys- 
tallines, chiefly granites, gneisses and schists with some met- 
amorphic elastics which cannot always be distinguished 
from the members of the fundamental complex. The latest 
Paleozoics are widely distributed and are chiefly known by 
the thick blue limestones which form the crests and back 
slopes of many of the principal mountain ranges: these are 
carboniferous. A third class of rocks is found in the thick 
and extensive beds of massive yellow sandstones, the geolog- 
ical age of which is Cretaceous. Over all these indurated 
rocks is a mantle of soft clays and sands, largely deposited 
during the Tertiary period. Later than all of these are vast 
outflows of igneous rocks, which cover many thousands of 



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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 29 

square miles within the hmits of New Mexico. The period 
during which these volcanic rocks were erupted extended 
from the late Tertiary down probably to within the time of 
the settlement of America by Europeans. 

Only in the southern extremity of the Sangre de Cristo 
range is it thought that true Archaean rocks are exposed. 
Possibly, also some of the basement crystallines of the Mogo- 
llon and Burro mountains in western New Mexico, and in the 
Sierra de los Caballos, in south central New Mexico, may 
prove to be of Archaean age. Even in these localities, the 
areas, wiiich may be properly referred to the Archaean, are 
quite limited in extent. 

Most of the mountain ranges are great tilted blocks, having 
one long sloping side, and one steep face, originally a fault 
scarp. In the abruptly rising faces, considerable portion of 
the basal part is often found to be made up of quartz plates, 
micaceous and hornblendic schists, gneisses and granites. 
The foliation of these highly metamorphosed rocks is usually 
nearly vertical. When they meet the basal quartzites and 
limestones above, they are sharply beveled off and the stratifi- 
cation of the last named beds is nearly at right angles to the 
planes of lamination beneath. 

These highly metamorphosed masses are here referred to 
the Algonkian age. They are more or less mineralized in the 
various mountain systems. They contain many of the exten- 
sive deposits of copper, iron, silver, gold and some of the 
rarer metals. These rocks are well displayed in the Sandia, 
Manzano, San Andreas, Magdalena, Caballos, Black Range, 
Sangre de Cristo, Sacramento and other ranges. 

In central New Mexico, in the Sandia, Caballos, and San 
Andreas ranges, there is a massive quartzite, fifty to one 
hundred feet in thickness, the lower part of which is a con- 
glomerate, lying between the carboniferous limestone and 
the metamorphics. It is conformable with the limestones 
immediately above it. This quartzite member reposes upon 
the upturned ages of the Algonkian formations, indicating 
clearly that an enormous erosion interval separates the two. 
In some mountain ranges this quartzite carries important 
copper deposits. 

On the whole the carboniferous rocks of New Mexico are 




FALLS OF THE NAMBE, NORTH OF SANTA FE. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 31 

very important formations. They are found in the majority 
of the principal mountain ranges. In most locahties they are 
important ore carriers. As guide horizons they deserve the 
fullest considerati(m in the location of mines. Four import- 
ant series of formations belonging to the carboniferous sys- 
tem have been clearly made out in New Mexico. They re- 
present the lower carboniferous, the middle carboniferous, 
the upper carboniferous and Oklahoman series. The nether 
series of the carboniferous has been clearly differentiated in 
a number of localities. Principal of these places is Lake 
Valley, in Sierra county. In the Sacramento mountains the 
faunal equivalent of the Burlington limestone of the Missis- 
sippi Valley is well exposed. 

The great limestone plates which cap the princijial moun- 
tain ranges in central New Mexico, and which form their back 
slopes, are carboniferous in age. Immediately beneath the 
great limestone formations is found, usually a white quartzite, 
which often passes downward into a coarse conglomerate. 
The quartzite, with its coarse phase, rests unconformably on 
the upturned edges of the metamori^hic series. 

The great limestones are easily distinguishable by their 
black and blue to gray color, their peculiar compact texture, 
and the fossils which they contain. The thickness of the lime- 
stone is from 300 to probably 1,000 feet. It is massively 
bedded, and in some localities contains some very thick beds 
of pure wiiitish lime rock. 

This great limestone formation forms a remarkable cornice 
on the Sandia mountains, clearly seen from the railroad sta- 
tion at Albuquerque. It is also an important part of the Man 
zano, Magdalena, Socorro, Caballos, Ladrones, San Andreas 
and Sacramento ranges. 

In most of the districts the carboniferous limestone carries 
imjiortant lead and silver deposits. The quartzite also carries 
copper. 

Above the blue limestones of the carboniferous comes in an 
important sandstone, and then a sequence of shales and sand- 
stones conspicuous for their remarkable red coloration. "Red 
beds'' they are generally called. 

These Permo-carboniferous red beds are found everywhere 
at the foot of the back slope of the central New Mexico moun- 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 33 

tain ranges. They are 200 to 1,000 feet thick and often form 
a conspicuous feature in the landscape. 

In the Sandia mountains the lower sandstone is called the 
Coyote sandstone from Coyote Springs, and the upper mem- 
ber of the Bernalillo shales. 

These red sandstones and shales are notable for the copper 
ores everywhere distributed through them. 

There appears to be small doubt that the upper part of the 
great formation, long called the "red beds," belongs to a later 
geological age than the carboniferous. American geologists 
prefer to denominate the lower part of the Threefold Mesc- 
zoic the Jura-Trias. 

In New Mexico these beds are largely developed in the 
northeastern part in the Cimarron, Canadian and Pecos Val- 
leys, and in the central part in the Rio Grande Valley. In 
thickness the measurement is probably greatly in excess of 
500 feet. 

The important ore deposits are chiefly those of copjoer and 
iron. Gypsum, fire clays and cement materials abound. 

The cretaceous formations are the most extensive surface 
rocks in New Mexico. They probably cover more than one- 
half of the whole area. Both the upper and lower cretaceous 
sediments are well represented. 

In the Canadian and Pecos Valleys, particularly around the 
western and northern borders of the Llano Estacado, there 
lies above the "red beds"' a remarkable sequence of sands, 
chalky rocks and clays. These have been called the Trinity 
sands at the base, the Fredericksburg limestone, and the 
Washita sands. 

At the base of the upper cretaceous is a thick sandstone at 
least 300 feet in thickness. This is one of the chief artesian 
well reservoirs. 

In northeastern New Mexico particularly, the Colorado 
formation is w^ell defined. It there attains a thickness of 
fully 800 feet. It comprises chiefly shales with numerous 
bands of hmestbne and several thick sandstones. 

Attaining a development of 1,500 feet in northeastern New 
Mexico, the Montana is well represented by at least two im- 
portant terranes, known further north as the Pierre shales 
and the Fox Hills sandstones. The shales are prevailingly 





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THE LAND OF SUNSHINF:. 35 

gray and drab, becoming yellowish above and blackish below. 

Here the beds generally referred to the Laramie are upward 
of 2,000 feet in thickness. The rocks are chiefly gray sand- 
stones and shales, with numerous beds of coal. Most of the 
coal of the region is believed to belong to the Laramie age. 
The coals of the Raton, Dawson, Cerrillos, Carthage and the 
Bear mountains are all regarded as Laramie coals. 

In northeastern New Mexico and in the Rio Grande Valley 
there are two large areas of gray shales which reach a maxi- 
mum thickness of over 800 feet. The}^ have been referred to 
the early Tertiary, and are called the Puerco series. 

The later Tertiary beds are widely distributed. The Llano 
Estacado formation of eastern New Mexico, over 800 feet in 
thickness, appears to belong to this age. On Galisteo creek, 
south of Santa Fe, certain sands are referred to the Neocene, 
as are the Santa Fe marls so extensively^ developed north of 
the City of Santa Fe. The marls extend down the valley of 
the Rio Grande at least as far as Socorro. 

New Mexico is pre-eminently a mountain country. Geolo- 
gically its mountains are interesting on account of their valu- 
able mineral deposits; toiDographically, on account of being 
the sources of the life giving rivers, without which the Ter- 
ritory would be a desert. 

River Systems. 

The Rio Grande, which bisects the Territory, with its tribu- 
taries, comprises the most important river system. It rises 
in Colorado and empties into the Gulf of Mexico, about 500 
miles of its course being in New Mexico. In its valley and 
tributary valleys lives one-half of the population of the Terri- 
tory, and with its tributaries it furnishes the irrigation water 
for one-half of the land under cultivation in New Mexico. 
During flood seasons, it carries an immense amount of water 
that spreads over the lowlands, but during the dry season, it 
dwindles into insignificance in many places, although a large 
volume of water flows under the sand}^ bed at all times. In 
the northern part of its course the river flows through precip- 
itous canons, opening into the Espanola Valley, and then be- 
comes contracted again in the White Rock canon. South of 
this, the valley grows wider and the stream more sluggish, 



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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE, 37 

the banks being low or consisting of sand bluffs, excepting in 
lower Socorro county and in Sierra count}', where the Ele- 
phant Buttes close in upon the stream, which for a short dis- 
tance flows more rapidly again, but below the Buttes spreads 
out into the Mesilla Valley,. one of the garden spots of the 
Territory. This river has been called the "Nile of New Mex- 
ico" and this name is truthful within certain limitations. 
Egypt without the Nile w'ould be a desert, New Mexico with- 
out the Rio Grande would still be a rich and prosperous com- 
monwealth, although its population would be only half of what 
it is today and instead of being, first of all an agricultural, it 
would be more a stock and mining country. 

The Rio Grande has many tributaries, along which are 
situated some of the loveliest and most fertile valleys of the 
Territory. Commencing in the north, the most important are 
the Costilla, Cabresto, Taos, Embudo, Petaca, Chama, Santa 
Cruz, Pojoaque, Santa Fe, Jemez, Galisteo, Puerco and Salado 
rivers. South of the last named the Rio Grande is practically 
tributaryless for over a hundred miles, except during the 
spring months or after heavy rains. 

Next to the Rio Grande, the largest river in the Territory 
is the Pecos. It rises in Mora county, on the Pecos River 
Forest Reserve, and flows southeasterly for over 400 miles 
through the Territory and finally enters the Rio Grande in 
Texas. Along its upper course it is a mountain stream but 
in Leonard Wood county it assumes the characteristics of the 
lower Rio Grande, a wide, shifting sandy bed, cutting through 
bluffs or spreading over lowlands, carrying an immense 
volume of water during floods, seeping into the ground along 
certain stretches during drouth, but always having a strong- 
underflow. In Chaves and Eddy counties, the flow of the river 
is more permanent and of greater volume, but here, too, it 
fluctuates according to the season. The waters of the Pecos 
are more alkaline than those of the Rio Grande, especially 
from Santa Rosa south. The Pecos has a number of long 
tributaries but none of them carrying a great volume of water 
except after heavy rains or during the flood season. 

The third great river system of the Territory is that of the 
Canadian, which drains the eastern slope of the main Rocky 
Mountain range as far south as the headwaters of the Pecos 



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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 39 

river. Its principal tributaries, tlie Cimarron, the Vermejo, 
the Ocate and the Mora, carry a considerable amount of water, 
while there are a number of lesser tributaries, perennial in 
their flow in their upper courses. These streams have more 
or less the characteristics of mountain streams, with rock 
bottoms. Still, they have considerable underflow, and as the 
Canadian approaches the eastern boundary, its waters seep 
into the sandy bed and its tributaries are mere arroyos. 

Next in importance to the Canadian, and exceedmg it in 
volume of w^ater, is the San Juan system in the northwestern 
part. The principal tributaries of this river in New Mexico 
are the Las Animas and the La Plata. The waters of the San 
Juan eventually find their way into the Colorado river and the 
Pacific ocean. 

To the Pacific slope also belongs the Gila system in south- 
western New Mexico. In addition there are a number of in- 
dependent river courses, which do not make their way to the 
ocean, either directly or indirectly. The most important of 
these is the Mimbres, in the southern part of the Territory? 
which in its lower source has a strong underflow that is to be 
tapped in the near future to furnish the City of El Paso, in 
Texas, with water. 

These rivers and streams are the arteries upon whose flow 
the very existence of the Territory depends. They differ in 
many respects from rivers in the east, owing to peculiarities 
of climate, of soil and the uses to which their waters are put. 
So called arroyos or dry water courses, furrow New Mexico 
in every direction, in addition to the rivers and streams. 
These arroyos carry water only after rains or when the snow 
is melting in the mountains. Most of them have an underflow 
but ordinarily they appear to the eye, as rivers that have been 
dried up by the sun and the winds. 

Irrigation. 

Excepting in a few mountain valleys and ujDon high mesas, 
irrigation is necessary to the successful pursuit of agricul- 
ture. Irrigation permits the application of water to crops 
when they need it. 

That this is the ideal condition under which to raise crops 
goes without saying, and is proven by .'i.OOO years of history 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 41 

in Egypt, Italy, the East Indies and China. No excessive 
moisture, no drouth, worries the husbandman who possesses 
an irrigation right in a perennial stream or w4io has fortified 
himself with a reservoir. Irrigation means intensive farming, 
it means that the land will be fertilized at the same time that 
it is watered, it means certain crops and a maximum produc- 
tion per acre. In its jjerfection, agriculture by irrigation, is 
as distinct an advance upon the methods of agriculture in the 
more humid states, as manufacturing with machinery is over 
manual labor. 

When it is remembered that out of a total area of over 
78,000,000 acres only about a quarter million are in actual 
cultivation under irrigation ditches, then it W'ill be seen that 
there is a vast opening for enterprise in reclaiming broad 
areas of as fertile lands as God ever created, lying under a 
perfect sky, and in a well nigh perfect climate. Nor is there 
a lack of water for reclaiming at least a portion of the vast and 
domain. The flood waters which flow to waste annually, the 
ordinary flow of rivers and streams that is wasted or not util- 
ized, the tremendous underflow in most of the broad valleys 
of the Territory, the feasibility and cheapness of pumping 
w^ater from unfailing wells in many sections, ^and the un- 
doubted existence of large artesian belts, all promise that 
sooner or later a large j^artof New Mexico will be under suc- 
cessful irrigation. 

Sufficient data have been gathered and published in the 
report of the Territorial commission of irrigation in 1898 and 
by the United States geological survey to make it quite prac- 
tical to pick out the most available reservoir sites and to de- 
termine upon projects, which at a minimum cost would benefit 
the greatest number of people. 

The Territory may properly be divided into three distinct 
regions, the eastern plains, the Rio Grande Valley and the 
western plateaus. The eastern portion is an extension of the 
high plains of Texas, broken by the w'aters of the Canadian 
and Pecos rivers. This broad stretch of open grazing land 
continues to the uplands which form the southern extension 
of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. 

This portion is a favored section for the cattle growers and 
sheep raisers. Beyond this broken country is the Rio Grande 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 43 

valley, and still further west are elevated arid table lands. 
These extend to the mountains, which lie about the headwaters 
of the Gila and Salt rivers. In the extreme northwestern part 
of the Territory, where are the fertile valleys of the San Juan 
river and its tributaries, there has been recently a consider- 
able development of irrigation. 

In the Rio Grande section there a few very large irrigation 
canals and many small community ditches held by the Indians 
and small settlers. The origin of these ditches is lost, even 
in local tradition, and it is probable that many more of them 
were in use before the advent of the Spaniards. Under the 
community system each ditch is held and controlled by the 
owners of the land it irrigates, these living usually together 
in a village or pueblo. In the fall of each year a mayordomo 
is elected, who has full control of the ditch for the following 
season. He assesses the land for the labor necessary to clean 
the ditch and to keep it in repair during the irrigation season, 
apportions the water to each consumer according to the local 
conditions, and in general supervises all matters pertaining to 
irrigation. While the apportionment of labor varies, it is gen- 
erally such that a farmer holding a tract of six acres is requir- 
ed to furnish the labor of one man in cleaning and repairing 
the entire ditch in the spring, while he who holds twelve acres 
furnishes a man's labor when necessary during the whole 
season. The ditches have no regular gates or sluices, and 
flooding is the only means of irrigation. Consequently^, the 
use of water is extremely wasteful. 

The developnient of the agricultural resources depends 
largely upon the control of the Rio Grande. The seepage and 
inflow from streams maintain the river at a good volume in 
northern New Mexico. Sites suitable for reservoirs along the 
Rio Grande and its principal tributaries are frequent, and 
several of them excellent. Large dams constructed at these 
points would render it possible to hold large quantities of 
water for the irrigation of a number of open valleys along the 
course of the river. Some of these reservoir sites have been 
surveyed. 

Irrigation on the eastern plain is of comparatively recent 
introduction. The water supply is drawn from the Canadian 
and Pecos rivers. The Canadian river flows through a valley 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. -15 

200 miles in length within the Territory. Irrigation ditches 
in this drainage basin are confined almost wholly to the tribu- 
taries, the course of the main stream being for the most 
part through a canon, from which it does not emerge until it 
nears the boundary. Important irrigation systems are sup- 
plied by the Cimarron, Vermejo, Mora and Conchas rivers, 
those of the two first mentioned streams being among the 
most extensive in the Territory. Two large canals, con- 
structed by a corporation, are located on the Maxwell grant, 
a tract containing 1,491,755 acres of grazing, agricultural, tim- 
ber and mineral lands, including within its boundaries the 
headwaters of the Canadian, Vermejo and Cimarron rivers. 
Along the line of these canals is a series of natural basins or 
ancient lake-beds, favorably situated, in which large quanti- 
ties of water are stored. Many smaUer natural reservoir sites, 
located at elevations where evaporation is comparatively 
slight, are found near the headwaters of nearly all the streams 
which originate in this basin. Eleven reservoirs, with a com- 
bined capacity of 5,000 acre feet, have been constructed on 
the Vermejo. On the Cimarron there are thirteen individual 
ditches and one corporation ditch. Connected with these are 
four storage reservoirs, with an aggregate capacity of 6,000 
acre feet. The area ii-rigated by the ditches of this stream is 
7,628 acres. The Mora river and its tributaries supply water 
for practically all the irrigation systems in Mora county. Two 
ditches have been constructed, by which, during the periods 
of greater scarcity, water is taken from the Rio del Pueblo in 
Taos county and diverted through passes in the mountains. 
All the ditches along the Mora and its tributaries are either 
private or community ditches. 

The Pecos river becomes a considerable stream at its con- 
fluence with the Gallinas. As the river has mountain sources, 
the flow in the upper portion of its basin is perennial; but 
shortly after it emerges from the highlands much of its 
water is lost by seepage and for several months in the year 
this part of the river bed carries very little water. 

In the lower part of its course in New Mexico the Pecos 
receives large quantities of water from numerous springs, 
which are a notable feature, many of them emerging from the 
earth with such volume and force as to prove beyond question 



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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 47 

that they come from the drainage waters of the high precipi- 
tous mountain ranges on the west. 

The following are the principal tributaries of the Pecos, 
several of them furnishing a constant supply: Mora, Agua 
Negra, Agua Negra Chiquita, Rio Hondo, Berendo rivers 
(north, middle and south), the Sjoring rivers (north and south), 
Penasco, Seven rivers, Rocky Arroyo and Black river. The 
drainage area of the catchment basin of the Pecos river lying 
within the Territory and available for irrigation purposes is 
estimated at 20,000 square miles. 'It extends along four de- 
grees of latitude, with varying altitudes of from 3,000 to 11,- 
000 feet. In the valley between Roswell and the territorial 
line, many of the lands subject to irrigation are of excellent 
quality. 

In the western plateau region the total number of acres 
irrigated is small compared with the other two main divisions 
of the Territory. The waters affording supply for this region 
are the San Juan, the Gila, the Zuni and the Mimbres rivers. 
The lands irrigated by the San Juan river are in the northern 
part of San Juan county. The sources of this river are in the 
San Juan and La Plata mountains in Colorado, and the afflu- 
ents which it receives from the south are unimportant. Near 
the Colorado line the San Juan has a mean flow of 960 cubic feet 
per second. This is augmented by the waters of the Rio de 
los Pinos, which has an estimated flow of eighty cubic feet per 
second. The most important tributary is the Las Animas, 
which has a normal flow at a point below Aztec of 855 cubic ' 
feet per second. 

While the flow of all these streams is perennial, it fluctuates 
with the seasons, being increased by the melting snows in the 
spring, and later by the rains which usually occur in the 
latter part of July and in August. 

In the drainage basin of the San Juan there are fifty-two 
ditches, located as follows: On the Las Animas twenty ditches 
irrigating 7,132 acres; on the San Juan nineteen, irrigating 
3,999 acres; and on the La Plata fifteen, irrigating 3, 0(13. The 
total area irrigated by the San Juan and its tributaries is 
14,734 acres. 

The Gila river rises in the Black and Mimbres ranges and 
in Grant county flows for the most part through narrow 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 49 

mountain valleys. The total acreage irrigated by it is 5,933 
acres. The How is permanent and only a small portion is used. 
Tn Grant county a considerable acreage is irrigated by the 
Rio Mimbres. This stream flows southward through the 
county to within a few miles of Deming, then turns abruptly 
to the east and discharges its waters upon the Florida plains, 
where they are lost in the sands. 

Between the basins of the Gila and the San Juan rivers, 
there is a small area drained by the Zuni river. Portions of 
this area are irrigated by the Zuni Indians. The government 
is constructing a reservoir for the Pueblo Indians on the Zuni 
reservation which will impound sufficient water to irrigate 
6,000 acres. 

Of the 78,374,000 acres of land surface in New Mexico, only 
6,000,000 or 6.5 per cent, are included in farms and only 400,- 
000 are improved. Of the improved land 385,000 acres are 
located outside of the Indian reservations. The importance 
of irrigation is demonstrated by the fact that the irrigated 
area outside of the Indian reservations is only a little more 
than 250,000 acres. In 1889 the corresponding irrigated area 
was but 91,755 acres. 

Of the farms of the Territory 72.2 per cent, are wholly or 
partially irrigated, while of the imjjroved acreage 57.2 per 
cent, are irrigated. The average area of improved land in such 
irrigated farms is thirty-three acres, of which twenty-six are 
irrigated. 

The average number of acres of irrigated land for each mile 
of ditch reported is eighty-six. The area under ditch for each 
mile is 272 acres, or over three times the average irrigated 
area. In many states where there is a larger percentage of 
new irrigation enterprises than in this Territory the area irri- 
gated bears a much smaller ratio to the area under ditch. In 
the sections of New Mexico where irrigation has been prac- 
ticed for centuries the effect on the old canals of the diversion 
of water at points farther up the stream is shown by the dif- 
ference between acreage under ditch and acreage actually 
irrigated. This is especially evident along the Rio Grande. 
On the other hand, in the valleys of the Pecos and San Juan 
rivers and their tributaries, the difference is due to the pres- 
ence of new enterprises. 





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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 51 

The average cost of constructing the ditches is $1,738 per 
mile and $6.40 per acre of land under ditch. 

Of the 12,311 farms, excluding those in the Indian reserva- 
tions, 9,128 are irrigated and 3, 183 are unirrigated. The acres 
in the irrigated farms number 2,892,855; in the unirrigated, 
238,023. Live stock on the irrigated farms has a value of 
$15,785,760, and on the unirrigated, $15,941,640. Irrigated 
farms are, in number 74 per cent, of the total in the Territory; 
in acreage 56.4; in value of land and improvements, exclusive 
of buildings, 77.8; in implements and machinery, 75.9; in live 
stock 49.7; and in total farm wealth, 64.5 per cent. 

The average size of all farms, exclusive of those held by In- 
dians, is 464 acres, and that of irrigated farms, 380 acres. 
The irrigated farms make greater use of the public domain 
for grazing purposes than do those which are unirrigated, 
and an income is thus secured in addition to that obtained 
directly from the land owned and leased. 

Sufficient has been done in irrigation to demonstrate what 
might be and eventually will be accomplished. The irrigation 
works in the lower Pecos Valley are the greatest and best in 
the United States. They have placed under ditch an area 
equal to the entire number of acres now under cultivation in 
the Territory; they have built cities and villages, turned a 
desert into a garden and created millions of dollars of wealth 
where formerl}^ there was but an unproductive waste. And 
yet, this is only the beginning, even for this section of the 
Territory. Here, on the Rio Hondo, the United States govern- 
ment is about to build a $350,000 reservoir and irrigation 
works. 

On the Maxwell land grant in Colfax county, equal progress 
has been madejn building irrigation works on scientific prin- 
ciples'^and the results are similar to those achieved in the 
Pecos Valle3^ In San Juan county there are miles upon miles 
of irrigation canals while many more miles are being added 
without exhausting the available water supply. For the 
Pueblo, as well as the Navajo Indians, the national government 
is'constructing such reservoirs and irrigation canals; and it 
w^ill undertake the same work in the near future for the white 
settlers. In the Rio Grande Valley and the valleys of its tri- 
butaries and along every brook and river are irrigation sys- 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 53 

terns, some of them primitive aiifl wasteful, it is true, and 
sooner or later to be supplanted by scientific irrigation, yet, 
sufficient to demonstrate that New Mexico is first of all an 
agricultural commonwealth. It was the first to practice irri- 
gation and will be the greatest beneficiary eventually under 
the reclamation policy so recently inaugurated by the national 
government. 

But New Mexico does not depend altogether upon water 
from flowing streams or stored flood waters for the 
moisture to raise its crops. Besides a number of valleys 
and mesas where the rainfall is sufficient to raise crops, 
there are extensive artesian areas, developed to their greatest 
extent in Chaves and Eddy counties where there are scores 
of flowing wells, but existing also in Colfax county and about 
to be developed in other sections. Besides flowing wells, 
there are inexhaustible wells in which the water does not rise 
quite to the surface, such as have given Deming the name of 
the Windmill Cit3\ Then there is a great underground flow 
in nearly every river valley, which is available by pumping. 
Experiments successfully conducted at the Agricultural Ex- 
periment Station at Mesilla Park, have demonstrated that 
water sufficient for irrigation purposes can be raised with a 
gasoline pump at a maximum cost of from fifty-one to fifty-four 
cents an acre, the well being forty-eight feet deep. When it 
is considered that in India 6,000,000 acres are irrigated from 
wells by pumping, it can be seen what a future there is for 
New Mexico in agricultural development alone. 



CHAPTER IV. 

f INDUSTRIES. 

Agriculture. 

CHE up-to-date New Mexico farmer is the aristocrat of 
his craft. With twenty or thirty acres of fertile land 
and ample irrigation rights he is independent. He 
fears neither excessive moisture nor drouth, neither 
hard times nor panics. There is always a good market in 
which his products command top prices and as to crop failure, 
it is out of the question, if he knows his business. 

New Mexico is attracting more attention today than at any 
former time on account of its agricultural possibihties. Home- 
seekers are coming to the Territory in great numbers, taking 
up and purchasing large areas of land in valleys, and building 
new agricultural communities of ccmsiderable importance. 

Forty-one per cent of the people in the Territory pursuing 
gainful occupations are engaged in agricultural pursuits— 
quite a creditable showing. In the great agricultural state 
of Ilhnois, having a population of 2,80-4,040 engaged in gainful 
occupations, there are 862,781 persons, or only thirty-one per 
cent., as against forty-one per cent, in New Mexico, who are 
engaged in agricultural pursuits. 

The area and valuation of farm lands and the value of farm 
property in New Mexico has materially increased since 1890, 
as is shown in the following table: 

1890 1900 

a b 

Total number of farms 4,458 11,834 

Acres in farms 7S2,882 5,130,878 

Total value of farm property $33,543,141 $53,737,824 

Lands, fences and buildings 8,140,800 20,888,814 

Implements and machinery 291,140 1,151,610 

Live stock on hand June 1 25,111,202 31,727,400 

a. Not le39 than three acres, reporting not less than $500 gross 
income. 

b. Not less than three acres, and repofliny the sale of not less than 
$500 in produce. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 57 

This shows that from 1890 to 1900 the number of farms in- 
creased 165 per cent., the area of farm lands 550 per cent., the 
total value of farm property 60 per cent., the value of lands 
with their improvements 156 per cent., the value of implements 
and machiner}' 295 per cent., and the value of live stock 26 
per cent. These figures give an idea of the rapid develop- 
ment, and the^' are also indicative of what maj' be ex- 
pected in the future. Another matter that is well worthj^ of 
record here is the fact that the producing capabilities per 
capita of those engaged in agricultural i)ursuits have increased 
amazingly. The annual value of farm products increased in 
the ten years, 1890 to 1900, from nearly 82,000,000 to a little 
over S10,000,000,or an increase of 400 jDer cent in the ten years, 
while the agricultural population has not increased 100 per 
cent. 

The following table taken from the twelfth United States 
census will give some idea of the importance of several of 
the leading Xew Mexico crojDS during the census year of 
1900 : 

Value Acres Bushels 

Total cereals 81,077^77 96,210 

Corn 519,936 41,345 677,305 

Wheat 390,616 37,907 603,303 

Oats 154,347 15,848 342,777 

Barley 12,475 1,110 23,107 

Hay and forage 1,427,317 87,458 

Beans .7 73,001 3,349 

Peas 20,365 2,220 

Sugar beets 16,859 1,298 

Irish potatoes 49,552 1,122 72,613 

Sweet potatoes 4,588 47 6,180 

Orchard products 197,331 

Flowers and plants 5,300 11 

Nurseries 4,343 22 

Vegetables 27?^,413 6,501 

Not classified 33,717 

Alfalfa. 

Much has been written about alfalfa. It is known more or 
less in every state in the Union. Alfalfa is grown in all the irri- 




MONUMENT ROCK, PECOS FOREST RESERVE. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 59 

gated sections of New Mexico up to an altitude of 8,000 feet. 
It is grown considerably in dvy[farming sections where there 
is no irrigation. In New Mexico alfalfa does well in almost 
every class of soil. The chemical constituents of the soil seem 
to have little to do with the growth of the crop, provided the 
surface is level and the proper amount of water is given. It 
grows well on light, sandy loam, as well as on the heaviest 
adobe. It is said by an able writer that alfalfa will not stand 
"wet feet." That is true if he means that it would not grow in 
a water-logged soil. Where the soil is well drained it will ex- 
tend its roots to the water table and grow luxuriantly where the 
water table is only a few feet below the surface of the ground. 
The area of alfalfa in New Mexico increased from 12,139 acres 
in 1890 to 55,467 in 1900. The average annual yield in the Ter- 
ritory is about three tons per acre. The cost of production, 
including taxes, water rent, growing, harvesting, bahng and 
placing on board the car, does not exceed $i per ton. There 
are some large alfalfa farmers who are able to place alfalfa on 
the car at a much less figure because they have perfected 
their system of irrigation and handle the hay with improved 
machinery. 

The net profit in growing alfalfa under irrigation is consid- 
erably larger than the average net profits realized on wheat 
and corn in the older agricultural sections. It is a crop that 
requires little labor, if the field has been made level and the 
soil well prepared before seeding, after which the operations 
are simple, resolving themselves into irrigation and harvest- 
ing. On many soils, one irrigation will produce one crop, 
which may vary from one-half to two and one-half tons per 
acre. The price of alfalfa varies in different parts of the Ter- 
ritory, depending upon the production, amount consumed by 
stock being fattened, and the shipping facilities. The demand 
for alfalfa, aside from that of local consumption, comes from 
cities and towns, mining and railroad camps, and the thousands 
of isolated stock ranches scattered over the arid and semi-arid 
sections, as well as a considerable demand from portions of 
Texas and the Republic of Mexico. At harvest time the price 
of alfalfa is comparatively low, usually not exceeding $8 per 
ton, but the forehanded farmer who holds his product until 
winter, usually gets from §10 to §13 per ton. Alfalfa farming 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 61 

has proven very attractive and profitable, and it is not sur- 
prising that the area increased from 12,000 to 55,000 acres 
in ten years. 

As to the feeding value of alfalfa it is conceded throughout 
the country that it leads all other forage crops in its total 
digestible food constituents and nitrogen contents. 

Corn. 

Corn stands next to alfalfa in acreage and value of total pro- 
duct. Where water for irrigation is plencif ul the yield of corn 
in New Mexico compares favorably with the yield of this crop 
in the corn belt. 

Kaffir corn grows as well if not better than ordinary corn. 
In some sections of the Territory it is grown almost exclu- 
sively for feeding stock. In the Pecos valley, Kaffir corn is one 
of the leading crops. It yields from twenty-five to fifty 
bushels per acre, besides producing a large quantity of ex- 
cellent stover. Both the grain and stover are fed to cattle and 
sheep in the fattening pens. Kaffir corn is an excellent 
drouth resister. 

Sorghum also yields good crops and in many localities is 
grown for its sugar contents. 

W^heat. 

Wheat is a sure crop in New Mexico if sown early. The 
yield of wheat per acre is equal to the yield in the leading 
wheat growing states. New Mexico wheat received first pre- 
mium at the World's Fair at Chicago and at other expositions. 
Before the building of the railroads the Taos and other val- 
leys were considered the granaries of the southwest. All of 
the cereal crops will grow here. 

Potatoes. 

By many the potato has been considered an impossible crop,, 
and yet the value of the potato crop in 1903 was nearly $50,- 
000. The difficulties in growing potatoes seem to be those of 
varieties and management under irrigation. Colorado failed in 
its first attempt to grow potatoes, but now this crop forms an 
important source of wealth in the Centennial State. Sweet, 
potatoes are grown without difficulty. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 63 

Vegetables. 

New Mexico produces vegetables as . well as the staple 
crops, and wherever water for irrigation can be had, most 
vegetables do well. While truck gardening is not carried on 
very extensively, it is nevertheless increasing every year. 

Celery can be grown to perfection in those parts of the Ter- 
ritory where the soil and climatic conditions are favorable and 
where some care in growing it is exercised. Among the best 
known celery growing sections are Santa Fe, the Rio Grande 
Valley and Roswell. The latter place is probably the most 
noted for its celery. It produces a large quantity, but not 
enough to supply the demand. It is claimed that the Roswell 
celery is superior to the product from California and Louis- 
iana, and will sell equally as well in the markets outside of the 
Territory. 

Fine Rocky Ford cantaloupes are raised here. Cantaloupe 
growing is getting to be quite a business in the southern por- 
tion of the Territory. Some are grown at Las Cruces for the 
early market, which are shipped mostly to the local markets 
in the Territory, but the large areas are found at Carlsbad 
and Roswell. From these points carloads of cantaloupes are 
sent to the eastern markets. It seems that there is no ma- 
terial difference between the New Mexico and the Colorado 
Rocky Ford cantaloupes. New Mexico, however, has the ad- 
vantage of Rocky Ford in as much as the cantaloupes can be 
placed on the markets earlier. 

The tomato grows well and is quite an important crop. 
While it is grown more or less in all sections the largest 
fields are in the Mesilla Valley. A canning factory is estab- 
lished at Las Cruces which cans a large quantity of excellent 
tomatoes. The canned tomatoes are sold in New Mexico, 
Texas, Arizona, Colorado and other states. The demand for 
these tomatoes is greater than the supply. The canned pro- 
duct has also added to the reputation of the Territory. 

New Mexico is also known for the superior onions which it 
produces. While at present the area planted to onions is very 
limited, and the production insufficient to supply even one- 
tenth part of the home consumption, there is a bright future 
for it, and the chances are that it will become a crop of great 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 65 

commercial value. Probably the Rio Grande Valley is the 
largest onion-growing district, and here is where the old "El 
Paso" onion which has given New Mexico a reputation as an 
onion-raising section, grows so well. It is not infrequent to 
see specimens weighing one and one half pounds. The yield 
per acre is large. The results of the Agricultural Experiment 
Station show that such varieties as the Red Victoria will pro- 
duce 32,000 pounds per acre. 

In floriculture marked and rapid strides are being made, 
particularly in home adornment. Many of the flowering 
plants, like the rose, violet, chrysanthemum and sweet peas 
do well. 

Dairying. 

Dairying has kept pace with the demand in the vicinity of 
cities and towms where the products are sold in the form of 
milk and cream. There is not enough butter and cheese manu- 
factured, however, to supply the demand, although there has 
been a considerable increase in their production. In 1889 
there were manufactured 10'), 000 pounds of butter and cheese; 
this number swelled to 380,000 pounds in 1899. 

Poultry and Poultry Products. 

Annually thousands of dollars are poured into the pockets 
of Kansas and Nebraska farmers in payment for poultry and 
eggs consumed here, yet the Territory is well adapted to the 
raising of poultry. It has most of the advantages with but few 
of the disadvantages of other sections. Insect pests are no 
worse, while disease is rare. Prices are high, being governed 
by the price of the foreign product plus the transportation 
charges, therefore the home product has the best of it. It is 
evident that the New Mexico farmer is taking advantage of 
these favorable conditions, for the number of dozens of eggs 
produced increased from 1890 to 1900 from 280,000 to 840,000, 
yet there is need of a greatly increased production to supply 
the demand. 

Apiarian Products. 

With mild winters and abundant bee pasture, in the form of 
alfalfa, tornillo, etc., the apiarian products have increased over 
sixfold in ten years and are of considerable importance all 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 67 

over the cultivated areas. Bee culture and the production of 
honey is very profitable and a pursuit especially adapted to 
those who are able to do only light out door work. 

Horticulture. 

Fruit growing in the horticultural sections is assuming 
large proportions, with practically no serious oljstacle in the 
waj^ of its becoming still greater, provided prosier precautions 
t ) keep down insect and fungus pests are taken, as is done 
in other fruit growing states. New Mexico's orchards 
are equal to, if not superior, to those anywhere in the United 
States. 

Of all the fruits, the apple is the most extensive and the 
most profitable crop. Notwithstanding the topography of the 
Territory, this fruit is well adapted to the different horticul- 
tural sections. The counties of San Juan and Santa Fe in the 
north, Bernalillo and Socorro in the central. Grant, Dona Ana 
and Otero to the south, and Lincoln and Chaves in the south- 
east, are favorably' known for their apples. New Mexico is 
becoming famous not only in the United States, but abroad, 
for its superior api3les. Its fruit is placed in competition with 
the world at the great expositions. In 1901 at Buffalo the ap- 
ples from New Mexico were conspicuous, and the fruit from 
Roswell, in Chaves county, received a first prize, while in 1900 
the New Mexico apples were carried across the continent and 
the Atlantic Ocean to the Paris exposition. There New Mex- 
ico was counted in with the best apple growing sections in the 
Union, as specimen apples from Dona Ana received second 
premium. This ma}^ give an idea as to the kind of fruit that 
can be grown in New Mexico. Not only is the fruit of supe- 
rior quality, but the crops produced are enormous; as a rule 
the trees tend to overbear. 

The ajjple orchards vary from small family places to verj' 
large commercial oi-chards. The larger commercial planta- 
tions are located in the Mimbres Valley, the Mesilla Valley, 
San Juan county and at Roswell. The Roswell district, which 
seems destined to become the largest apple growing section 
in the southwest, is particularl}^ noted for its large orchards. 
The largest bearing orchard is that of J. J. Hagerman, and 
comprises something over 740 acres. The most profitable va- 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 69 

rieties grown are the winter apples such as the Ben Davis, 
Gano, Missouri Pippin, Winesap and Mammoth Black Twig. 
In a lesser degree the early varieties are also prolific; among 
the leading kinds may be mentioned the Earl}^ Harvest, Red 
June, Yellow Transparent and the Maiden's Blush. The ap- 
ples seem to be free from insect pests. 

ether pomaceous fruits, like the pear and quince, thrive as 
well as the apple, but these are not so important nor are they 
planted in such large areas. The pear has a marked adapt- 
ability, the trees usually bear early, are among the best 
drouth resisters, and are long lived and hardy. The fruit, 
especially of the large varieties, like the Bartlett, Idaho, 
Beurre, Easter, grows very large and is of fine quality. At 
present the pear is as free from disease and insect pests as 
the apple. The dreaded pear blight, which is so destructive 
in the east, has not yet made its appearance here. There is a 
bright future for the more extensive planting of this fruit. 

While peaches are grown in all the fruit growing sections, 
the larger commercial orchards are found in the Mesilla Val- 
ley, the upper Rio Grande Valley and at Carlsbad. These dis- 
tricts are especially adapted to certain varieties of peaches 
which find their way into the Colorado and Kansas City mark- 
ets. The early- ripening varieties such as the Alexander, 
Sneed, Waterk)o, Arkansas Traveler and H3"ne's Surprise, are 
among the successful and sure bearers. This is due to the 
fact that as a rule the earlj^ varieties are the late bloomers, 
blooming late enough to escape the late spring frosts. The 
late ripening peaches ordinarily bloom from eight to ten days 
earlier than the early kinds. The peach trees usually begin 
tD bear at three years from the time of planting. The tend- 
ency of the trees is to overbear and it becomes necessary to 
thin them in order that the fruit may not be too crowded. In 
size and quality. New Mexico peaches are not excelled by 
peaches from the best peach growing states. It is the com- 
mon opinion of those who have tasted both the California and 
New Mexico peaches that the latter are the better in quality. 
The fruit is as a rale highly colored, due perhaps to the more 
continuous sunshine during the ripening period. The peach 
is free from the serious diseases and insect pests. Probably 
the i)r()fitable period of the peach tree in New Mexico, is from 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 71 

ten to twelve years. By replanting an orchard at intervals of 
live to eight years, a profitable orchard can be kept up 
almost indefinitely. 

In New Mexico as in other places, where the apricot grows, 
it has given evidence of a longevity greater than that of any 
orchard tree, with thepossible exception of the pear tree. It 
is not uncommon to see very old seedling apricot trees grow- 
ing in the native home places in the Mesilla Valley, and at 
Santa Fe seedling apricot trees are known to be about 200 
years old. The fruit from the improved kinds is as lai'ge and 
as good in quality as the California apricots. The Blenheim, 
Moorpark, Royal, St. Ambroise and Luizet are desirable for 
hom.e planting. 

Cherries are only raised on a small scale. The trees of both 
the sour and sweet groups grow well. Varieties of the sour 
cherries are the best bearers, but the fruit is not as large as 
that from the sweet varieties. The sour varieties predomi- 
nate as they have proven to be more regular and surer bearers. 
The Early Richmond, English Morello, Ostheim and the Mont- 
gomery are among the leaders. 

The plum is making a place for itself. There is a growing 
demand for it. The tree is perfectly hardy, although there is 
some variation as to the fruitfulness among the trees of the 
different types. The three types are, first, the European plum, 
which is the plum that gives rise to the old varieties, such as 
the Green Gage, Yellow Egg, Damson and the various prunes; 
second, the Japanese plums, wdiich are entirely different from 
the former type; and third, the native type, such as the Wild 
Goose. As already stated, it is a well established fact that 
the selection of varieties is an important consideration, and 
this is particularly true in regard to plums. The European 
plums do admirably. The trees are thrifty, heavy and sure 
bearers. These plums are well adapted in every respect to 
the New Mexico conditions, and large and excellent (juality 
fruit can be produced. A few of the leading kinds of this 
group which have been tested are the Clayman, Jefferson, 
Imperial and Transparent Gage, Yellow ^SS, Pond's Seed- 
ling, Washington and the French and German prunes. 

The native plums such as the Wild Goose, Golden Beauty 
and Pool's Pride, are sure bearers. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. td 

The Territory is celebrated for its grapes. The European, 
or the so-called California, grapes succeed well, and these are 
the kinds grown for the market. The native or American 
grapes are not so satisfactory for commercial purposes, and 
are grown only for family use, although at Santa Fe excellent 
results have been obtained with the Diamond and other native 
varieties. The European grape has been cultivated for over 
a century, but its culture generally speaking, has been con- 
fined to the southern and hotter valleys, and particularly to 
the Rio Grande Valley from the Texas line to Santa Fe. The 
varieties that constitute the commercial vineyards are the 
Missouri, Muscat of Alexandria, and more or less the Gros 
Colman and Flame Tokay. These grapes are shipped to the 
Texas, Louisiana and Colorado markets, wiiere they have 
given New Mexico a rej^utation for fine grapes. The Mis- 
sion grape, while quite late in ripening, is the most popular 
and possesses some excellent qualities as a table and wine 
grape, and is the grape of New Mexico at present. The Rio 
Grande Valley, and particularly the Mesilla Valley, is espe- 
cially suited to the grape, and when its possibilities in this 
direction are more fully understood by the jDeople, New 
Mexico will becom.e a vast grape producing section. The 
grape-shipping season extends from about the 20th of Aug- 
ust till the last of September. This short season is due to the 
commercial grapes being all midseason varieties. Early and 
late ripening varieties need to be added to the large vineyards 
in order to extend the shipping period. There were 1,180 acres 
in bearing vines in 1900 and 9,000 acres of young vines. 

Small fruit does Avell and j^ields big profits, especially cur- 
rants, raspberries and gooseberries, which obtain a size and 
flavor that are excelled nowhere, nearly all varieties flourish 
and yield good crops year in and year out. 

Orchard Crops. 

There were 719,057 bearing fruit trees in 1900, which pro- 
duced 263,870 bushels of fruit. The value of all orchard pro- 
ducts in 1899 was estimated at $197,335. There is a noticeable 
increase in the amount of dried and evaporated fruits, which 
indicates that culls and marketable products are being more 
generally utilized. In the near future New Mexico will prob- 



THE LAND OP SUNSHINE. 75 

ably be able to supply its own markets with jams, jellies, 
marmalades, etc., manufactured from such fruits as generally 
go to waste, thus effecting a great saving. 

Where Agriculture Can be Pursued Successfully. 

There are many thousands of acres in New Mexico, aside 
from those already in use, which can be utilized for horticul- 
tural purposes. The portions of the Territory which are 
suited to horticulture are the river bottoms or valleys and the 
smaller valleys along the mountain streams. There are also 
large areas, commonly known as the mesas or uplands, which 
have the finest soil, and which would produce good crops. 
The largest horticultural districts are the Rio Grande Valley, 
extending from Embudo to the Texas line, taking in portions 
of the counties of Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, Sandoval, Bernalillo, 
Valencia, Socorro, Sierra and Doiia Ana; the Pecos Valley, 
mostly in the counties of Chaves and Eddy, the Animas and 
the San Juan Valleys in San Juan county and the Mimbres 
Valley in Grant county. Other notable but smaller sections 
are found in the counties of Colfax, Otero, Lincoln, Rio 
Arriba, Taos, Mora and San Miguel. The altitude of these 
different parts ranges from 3,000 to 7,500 feet. 

The soil varies from a sandy loam to a heavy clay, and is 
ordinarily fertile enough to produce good crops if water is 
obtainable for irrigation. Its fertility is demonstrated by the 
rank and rapid growth of the trees and plants. 

Since New Mexico lies in the arid zone the rainfall being 
insufftcient cannot be depended upon for the growing of fruits 
and vegetables. Occasionally, in the mountain districts, 
where the rainfall is more abundant and the humidity greater, 
some crops of fruits and vegetables are grown without irriga- 
tion, but one should not depend altogether on this. Irrigation 
is the only sure means of growing crops in New Mexico. By 
this means, other things being equal, the largest crops of ex- 
cellent quality can be grown, and then, the danger of floods 
and drouths is in a great measure mitigated. It is true, that 
the irrigation of fruits and vegetables costs money, energy 
and some skill, but the rewards are great and sure. With 
irrigation, the crops need not suffer from either too much nor 




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THE LAND OP SUNSHINE. K 

too little water and the land can be made to produce abun- 
dantly every year. 

In order to bring into play the favorable soil, water and cli- 
matic conditions to the best advantage, the adaptability of 
varieties of trees and plants should be considered. It is not 
infrequently found that some varieties, although they may be 
among the leading ones in other states, are partially or en- 
tirely w^orthless in New Mexico, particularly of the stone 
fruits. On the other hand, some less valuable kinds in other 
sections succeed admirably in many parts here. In other 
words, the proper selection of varieties is an important factor 
in the success of the horticultural operations, and this is being 
realized more and more. 

While horticulture is one of the leading interests and peo- 
ple of all classes are more or less interested in some branch 
of it, the possibihties in this direction are not fully reahzed. 
Only a small part of the land that is adapted to horticulture 
has been used. In recent years there seems to have been 
more interest taken in horticulture, and no doubt marked im- 
provement will soon take place in this line. 

Sugar Beets. 

New Mexico ranks first among countries best suited to tl e 
growth of high grade sugar beets. In nearly all localities 
where good beets can be grown there may also be found fuel, 
limestone, and water of good quality, as well as cheap labor. 
In the face of these facts, it seems that New Mexico should 
soon have sugar factories. 

Conditions are very similar to those in Colorado. In fact, 
in some respects superior, for both labor and land are cheaper. 

No doubt when it becomes knowm that New Mexico is even 
better suited than Colorado for both the growing of beets and 
the manufacture of sugar, capital will develop this industry 
as it has others of this Territory. New Mexico laws exempt 
all sugar factories from taxation for a period of six years. 

The United States Department of Agriculture, through a 
series of experiments for a number of years, has proven con- 
clusively that a mean temperature for the months of June, 
July and August, of about 70 degrees is the ideal temperature 
for the growing of beets of high saccharine contents. The 




COURT HOUSE OF MORA COUNTY AT MORA. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 79 

isothermal sugar zone, or that belt of the United States best 
adapted to the growth of sugar beets, has been carefully 
mapped by Dr. H. W. Wiley, chemist of the United States 
Department of Agriculture. It extends e^st and west across 
the United States, and embraces that portion having a mean 
summer temperature between 69 degrees and 71 degrees 
Fahrenheit. Entering the northern boundary of Colorado, it 
passes through the entire state and into New Mexico where 
it forms a loop in the extreme southern part of the Territory 
somewhere north of and near Las Cruces, and passes upward 
again and out in the extreme northwestern part. With the 
exception of the lower. Pecos and Mesilla Valleys, the entire 
agricultural part of New Mexico has the proper climatic con- 
ditions for the cultivation of sugar beets. Beets grown in New 
Mexico when fully matured, have shown a high sugar content. 
Doctor Wiley, who is undoubtedly the principal authority on 
sugar beets today, has the following to say concerning New 
Mexico : 

"It is evident that there are many locahties in New Mexico 
where conditions of temperature are most favorable to the 
growth of beets. There are also large areas of comparatively 
level lands which are capable of irrigation. Wherever the 
temperature of these regions is sufficiently low to permit the 
proper development of the beet, and where sufiicient water 
for irrigation can be secured, there is good reason to beheve 
that the industry may be established and prove to be profit- 
able. While the summer days of New Mexico are not so long 
by an hour or more as in the regions farther north, the amount 
of sunshine which the growing beets will receive, is practi- 
cally as great as in more northern localities, because of the 
comparative absence of cloudy and rainy days." 

The same scientist tabulates analyses of sugar beets grown 
in the different states and territories. It will be seen that 
New Mexico grown sugar beets have a higher percentage of 
sugar than those of any state which at that time had sugar 
factories in operation. It will also be observed that the per- 
centage of purity of juice from New Mexico is very high. 

The following table gives the sugar contents and purity of 
juice in New Mexico beets and beets from other states in 
which beet sugar factories have been located : 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 81 

gj Sngav in beet. Purity in juice. 

^^^^^- Per cent. Per cent. 

Michigan 14.7 Hl.l 

California 16.8 

Colorado 13.6 76 . 6 

Utah 14.8 81.1 

Nebraska 12.9 76.9 

New York 15. 82.4 

Oregon (a) (a) 

Washington 13.7 80.7 

Wisconsin 15.8 83.3 

Ohio 13.8 79.1 

Minnesota 11. 79.2 

New Mexico 17.2 82. 

(a) Results not given in table. 

It is estimated that the people of New Mexico consumed 
15,750,000 pounds of sugar last year. Not one pound of this 
sugar was manufactured in the Territory, notwithstanding 
the fact that natural conditions are better suited to sugar 
beet growth and beet sugar manufacture than almost any 
other place in the United States, and possibly in the world. 

Tobacco. 

Tobacco has been cultivated in New Mexico for hundreds 
of years. It is more than likely that tobacco originated here 
and found its way into other countries. Wild tobacco, called 
"puncha," grows all along the foothills of the mountains. 
Many farmers continue to grow tobacco of seeds from the 
original plant, preferring it to Havana or any other variety. 
The cultivated plant is very similar to the native. The native 
farmers do not sow the seed in beds and transplant, but drill 
in rows. The plants are from five to five and a half feet high 
and have about forty leaves. They are small and resemble 
Turkish more than any other variety in growth and shape of 
leaf. 

Eleven small beds were prepared in gardens in Bernalillo 
county last year. Sumatra, Turkish, Havana, Connecticut, 
Virginia and Kentucky burley seed were sown and covered 
with glass. This was necessary, as it was late in the season 
and the plants had to be forced. If the beds had been sown 








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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 83 

late in February or the early part of March, a covering of can- 
vass or cheese-cloth would have been sufficient. Suitable 
lands were selected for the experiment. The first transplant- 
ing work was done on May 26 and finished July 10. The crop 
grew nicely and gave a fine yield of superior quahty, with 
points in favor of Kentucky burley and Turkish, 

Tobacco of all varieties will grow well and has an unusually 
fine flavor and aroma. Several acres of Sumatra have been 
planted between rows of Kaffir corn six feet apart. It was 
shown by this experiment that the corn gave sufficient shade 
to the plants to make a very fine leaf, and that the great ex- 
pense of covering the field with canvass is not necessary. 

Cotton, 

Cotton is raised successfully in Eddy county. A cotton gin 
has been erected at Carlsbad. Cotton is also grown on a small 
scale in Chaves, Roosevelt and Quay counties. Two thousand 
acres were under cultivation in Eddy count}^ during the 1904 
season. 

The Soil, 

The soil of the valleys of New Mexico is superior in pro- 
ductive capabilities to the alluvial soil of the prairie states. 
The secret of its producing power probably lies in the large 
amount of sediment contained in the irrigation waters. The 
Nile Valley, with its irrigation waters loaded with sediment, 
is considered one of the most fertile in the world, and yet in 
New Mexico there are a number of Nile Valleys in miniature. 

The crops are not seriously troubled by either insect pests 
or fungus diseases. Much sunshine and dry climate prevent 
the growth of fungi and, therefore, these are not likely to 
become troublesome. The insect pests that have found their 
way here seem to be quite easily controlled by proper treat- 
ment. 

It is quite a common custom, especially among the native 
population, to grow two crops on the same land in one season, 
that is, a crop of wheat and a crop of corn. This system 
would be inadvisable in the rain belt, but in sections where 
irrigation is employed and the water applied is loaded with 
rich sediment, it is a question if any serious criticism of this 
practice can be made. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 85 

New Mexico's climate is a source of wealth to its people. 
Agricultural operations, especially in the southern half, are 
carried on throughout the year. Ground may be plowed any 
time during the winter, and cereals and alfalfa are sown dur- 
ing this season of the year, thus leaving the summer months 
free in which to harvest the cereal crops and the four or five 
cuttings of alfalfa. 

The principal agricultural and horticultural counties are 
Colfax, San Juan, Rio Arriba, Taos, Chaves, Eddy, Santa Fe, 
Dona Ana, Socorro, Valencia, Mora, Sandoval, Roosevelt and 
Bernalillo, although good agricultural land is found in every 
county. 

Results. 

At the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, an agricultural 
and horticultural exhibit from New Mexico received two gold 
medals, three bronze medals, and five certificates of honorable 
mention in competition with the rest of the North American as 
well as the South American continent. At the Louisiana Pur- 
chase Exposition at St. Louis, peaches from Roswell and Carls- 
bad received first premium in competition with peaches from 
California. The following figures are culled at random from 
reports in local newspapers made to them by farmers and hor- 
ticulturists or by reports made to the Bureau of Immigration: 
Capt. J. P. Casey from a ranch of 112i^ acres, 100 acres of which 
are in alfalfa, one-half mile north of Las Cruces, while he was 
its owner, had an average income per year since 1896 of $6,000. 
J. L. Wilson of Roswell sold $800 worth of tomatoes from a two 
acre lot on which the net profit was $550. Samuel Johnson on 
a three acre lot at Roswell raised $2,500 worth of truck, one- 
half of which was profit. George Davis from thirteen acres of 
fruit in Chaves county in one year sold $1,807 worth. J. C. Lea 
of Roswell in an off year for apples, sold $90 worth of this fruit 
from eight trees. A. J. Gilmour of Flora Vista, San J uan coun- 
ty, sold $600 worth of onions from one acre. W. H. Williams of 
San Juan county harvested 350 tons of alfalfa from sixty acres. 
W. H. Knight of Farmington sold 500,000 pounds of fruit from 
an eighty acre orchard , receiving on the tree, one cent a pound 
for apples, two cents a pound for grapes and three cents for 
prunes. He had one peach tree that yielded 700 pounds at 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 87 

one bearing. Andrew Stevenson of the San Juan Valley, re- 
ceived $3,200 from the alfalfa crop of 100 acres. W. M. 
Farmer of Roswell made $6,000 from twenty acres of celery. 
At the United States Industrial Indian School in Santa Fe on 
three-fourths of an acre 11,800 pounds of the best onions were 
raised in 1902, giving the school its entire winter supply of this 
important food vegetable and which if bought in the market 
would have cost four cents per pound or $472. The Territo- 
rial penitentiary at Santa Fe on a plat of live acres raised suf- 
ficient vegetables of all varieties to supply the officials and in- 
mates, about 300 in number, all the year around, with the 
exception of potatoes and tomatoes. The following were 
among some of the exhibits at recent agricultural fairs in the 
Territory: Barley seven feet high; oat heads thirty inches 
long; apples weighing each twenty-eight ounces and sixteen 
inches in circumference; pears nineteen ounces; peaches 
twelve ounces; Muscat grapes weighing twenty-five ounces 
per bunch; nectarines weighing six ounces; water melons 
forty pounds; heads of cabbages forty-two pounds; a bunch 
of nine sweet potatoes weighing eighteen pounds. One apple 
tree in Otero county in 1900 yielded 6,000 pounds and a peach 
orchard of 3,000 trees yielded 200,000 pounds. The following 
are average yields per acre: Oats seventy to one hundred 
bushels; corn forty to sixty bushels; barley sixty to eighty- 
five bushels; wheat thirty to forty-five bushels; alfalfa three 
to five tons; potatoes 300 to 500 bushels; sweet potatoes 600 to 
1,000 bushels; cotton one bale; tobacco 1,000 pounds; cailaigre 
root two to three tons; onions 500 bushels; sugar beets six- 
teen to twenty-two tons, yielding from sixteen to tw^enty-two 
per cent, saccharine matter; Mission grapes 12,744 pounds, 
making 910 gallons of wine. One acre of asparagus from the 
third year yields 200 pounds a day for sixty days each year. 
In Eddy county the average return for each acre of sugar 
beets was $67 and the average cost to the farmer $22. Bees 
average sixty-five pounds each year per hive, although as high 
as 196 pounds per hive have been realized at Artesia, Eddy 
county. The average profit per colony per year is $10. In 
years of ample rainfall an immense amount of gramma grass 
is harvested on the public range, an acre yielding from two to 
three tons of hay. 






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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 89 

How to Secure a Homestead. 

There are 52,000,000 acres of unappropriated public land 
in New Mexico. Agricultural public land is subject to entry 
onl}^ under the homestead and desert land laws. The 
homestead laws of the United States secure to qualified per- 
sons the right to settle upon, enter, and acquire title to 160 
acres of pubhc land by establishing and maintaining resi- 
dence thereon and improving and cultivating the same for a 
continuous period of five years. A homestead entryman must 
be the head of a family or over twenty-one years of age and a 
citizen of the United States or one who has declared his or her 
intention of becoming such, and he or she must not be the 
owner of more than 160 acres of land in any state or territory. 
A wife who has been divorced from her husband or deserted 
by him can make homestead entry. Payment of $16 fees and 
commissions must be made at the time of entry, and final 
proof can be made at any time when five years residence 
thereon and a cultivation of a portion of the land can be shown. 
The cost of making final proof, including publication of notice, 
taking testimony, and commissions is from $14.26 to $15. A 
person can, at the time of making homestead entry of 160 
acres, enter 160 acres under the desert land act. He will be 
required to pay twenty-five cents per acre at the time of mak- 
ing the entry, after which he is required to expend $3 per acre 
($1 per acre each year for three years) in labor or money in 
improving the land and constructing reservoirs, canals and 
ditches for irrigation and reclaiming the tracts entered; and 
the person can make final entry at any time prior to the expi- 
ration of four years on making the required proof of reclama- 
tion, of expenditure to an aggregate amount of $3 per acre, 
and of the cultivation of one-eighth of the land and making a 
final payment of one dollar per acre. 

In taking up a homestead, first possession may be obtained 
for ninety days by cutting four logs twelve feet long for a 
foundation of a house, putting up a notice and making im- 
provements from time to time. At the end of that time the 
entry must be completed. 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 91 

The Stock Industry. 

Next to agriculture, the stock industry is the greatest 
source of wealth, in fact, as far as the area devoted to it, it 
leads all other industries. This is easily explained, for be- 
sides an extensive private range, there are 50,000,000 acres of 
public range, and the chmate is all that can be wished for by 
stock raisers. Many fortunes have been made in stock rais- 
ing and with each year the grade of stock is being improved 
and thus becomes more valuable. Over 1,000,000 cattle are 
on the ranges of the Territory and in Chaves county are to be 
found some of the highest grade cattle in the United States, 
Herefords predominating. Chaves, Grant, Sierra, Luna, 
Otero, Dona Ana, Union, Leonard Wood, Roosevelt, Colfax, 
Eddy, Lincoln and Quay are the principal cattle counties. 

Sheep. 

There are between live and six million sheep upon the 
ranges. The mild winters, the grassy mesas and watered val- 
leys, the sheltered canons, help to make sheep raising very 
profitable. The wool produced annually is between 20,000,000 
and 25,000,000 pounds and as railroad facihties are ample 
there is no difticulty in getting the wool crop to market. A 
moderate capital invested in sheep, a home ranch and ample 
range will bring success to the sheep raiser if he possesses 
good business tact and experience. 

Goats. 

Equally as profitable and as free from difficulties is the 
raising of goats. Especially on the foothills and on the moun- 
tain mesas, goats do better than sheep. There are many thou- 
sand square miles of such pasture in the Territory. In Sierra, 
Lincoln, Otero and Santa Pe and other mountain counties, 
there are many large goat farms, much attention being given 
to high grade Angoras. Incidental to the profit from the hair 
of the Angoras, their skin and their meat, they will clear land 
from brush and thus make it available for irrigation. The 
goat is very hardy, can subsist upon a range that would starve 
any other animal and is free from diseases which often play 
havoc with other stock. There are, it is estimated, 225,000 
goats in the Territory. 





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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 93 

Timber. 

New Mexico is rich in timber, about 5,000,000 acres being 
covered with merchantable timber. Extensive lumbering 
operations are at present being carried on in the Sacramento 
mountains in Otero county, there being extensive saw mills, 
tie preserving and planing mills at Alamogordo; in Rio 
Arriba county where a railroad is being built into the timber 
district; in Valencia and McKinley counties, where the Ameri- 
can Lumber Company is carrying on operations upon a large 
scale, the lumber being sent to a large mill at Albuquerque; 
and upon a lesser scale in Taos, Santa Fe, Lincoln, Colfax, San 
Miguel, Mora and other counties. New Mexico timber, which 
is mostly pine, is used in building operations and for bridges 
and railroad purposes. Hundreds of thousands of pine and 
spruce railroad ties are also made annually. 

Mining. 

Mining will be treated in detail in a companion volume to 
this. It is one of the oldest and most important industries in 
the Territory and has produced many millions of dollars. It 
is destined to a great expansion and great production in the 
future. Prospecting has never been thorough nor develop- 
ment very extensive except in a few instances. Still, there 
have been many bonanzas in the Territory and from its gold 
and silver mines many fortunes have been made. Copper is 
found in almost every one of the mining counties, and the cop- 
per mines in Grant and Santa Fe counties are well developed. 
Considerable iron ore is mined in Grant county, but the Ter- 
ritory's iron deposits have scarcely been touched, although 
about 150,000 tons of iron ore are sent to Pueblo, Colorado, 
annually, from Fierro, Grant county, alone. The production 
of lead is, in importance next to gold, silver, copper and iron, 
and after that zinc ore figures in the mineral returns. New 
Mexico produces an extra fine quality of turquoise and sup- 
plies the market almost entirely in the United States. Other 
precious stones are found although not in large deposits. 

Salt lakes, alum deposits, vast areas of gypsum, sulphur, 
kaolin, fire clay, corrundrum, bloedite, ochre, graphite and 
mineral paints, are features of the mineral wealth of the Ter- 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 95 

ritory. Marble, granite, sandstone, lime, brick clay and other 
building materials exist in many counties. 

It is in its coal fields, however, that New Mexico possesses 
its greatest promise for the future. Last year a million and 
a half of tons of coal w^ere produced by the coal mines at 
Dawson, Van Houten, Madrid, Gallup, Monero, Carthage, 
Capitan and elsewhere. Coal exists in more than one-half of 
the counties and undeveloped coal veins from four to forty 
feet in thickness await merelj^ the coming of the capitalist 
and the railroad. Good coal miners can always find employ- 
ment and make, very good wages. There are also oil prospects 
in McKinley, Leonard Wood, Eddy, San Juan, Colfax and 
Sandoval counties. 

The leading mining counties are: Grant, Santa Fe, Colfax, 
Taos, Rio Arriba, Sierra, Otero, Socorro, Lincoln, Dona Ana, 
Luna and Sandoval, although there are mines and mineral in- 
dications in every county. 

Manufacturing Industries. 

New Mexico has made but a beginning in manufacturing 
although it presents every possible advantage for large indus- 
trial enterprises. There are lumbering mills and a box fac- 
tory at Albuquerque and at Alamogordo, and saw" mills on 
various timber tracts; a woolen mill at Albuquerque; w^ool 
scouring plants at Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Roswell and 
Tucumcari; a foundry at Albuquerque; railroad shops at Al- 
buquerque, Las Vegas, Raton, Alamogordo and Estancia; ore 
treatment plants in many of the mining camps; a tie preserv- 
ing plant at Alamogordo and at Las Vegas, ice factories, steam 
laundries, and electric light plants in the larger towns, can- 
neries at Las Cruces and Farmington, a distillery at Farming- 
ton, a cotton gin at Carlsbad, a brewery at Albuquerque and at 
Socorro, flour mills in the larger towns; coke ovens in the coal 
mining camps, a cement plant at Ancho; and other small manu- 
facturing plants are gradually being established. At Estancia 
a salt treatment plant is about to be built. 

But there is room for vast expansion. New Mexico produc- 
ing wool, hides, canaigre, cement, lime, sugar beets, gypsum 
and many other raw materials that many factories must ship 
from a distance. It offers in addition abundant and cheap fuel, 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 97 

low priced land, natural power, a perfect climate, good home 
markets and proximity to Mexico markets, railroad facilities, 
moderate priced labor, all of which are factors in conducting 
a successful industrial establishment. By legislation, various 
branches of manufacture are exempted from taxes for the 
first few years after establishment, and the larger towns are 
always ready to tender every inducement to manufacturers 
who desire to locate. The opening is especially promising for 
woolen mills, tanneries, shoe, glove, furniture, paper and beet 
sugar factories, cement mills, glass works, canneries, distil- 
leries, furnaces, iron and steel works and brick yards. 

Railroads. 

New Mexico is well gridironed by railroads and new lines 
are under consideration. During the past three years, 850 
miles have been added and now every county except one, has 
railroad facilities. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, the 
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, the El Paso and Southwest- 
ern, the El Paso and Northeastern, the Santa Fe Central, the 
Denver and Rio Grande, the Colorado and Southern, the Pecos 
Valley and Northeastern, the Southern Pacific and their 
branches and extensions, are the principal railway lines. 
These railroads employ a large number of men, and afford 
superior facilities for communication and traffic within the 
commonwealth as well as connection with the outside world. 
Three of the most important lines of transcontinental travel 
pass through the Territory. Santa Fe and Deming have three 
independent railroad systems, while other places have a com- 
petition of two railroad hnes or are the junction points of 
branches or a main and branch line. 



CHAPTER V. 

CLIMATE. 

TT is its climate that is New Mexico's principal and partic- 
ular boast, and well may its people be proud of it. As 
the altitude gradually declines from 8,000 feet in the 
north to 8,000 feet in the south, the climate is modified 
as far as the mean annual temperature is concerned, but other- 
wise it is the same in the north as in the south, the sharp win- 
ter winds of the north being tempered by the warm sunshine 
and dry air; and the higher temperature of the south being mo- 
derated by the latitude, the dry air and the invariably cool 
nights. There is no other commonwealth, not even Colorado 
with its high winds and greater annual precipitation, nor Ari- 
zona with its hot dust storms and great variations in daily tem- 
perature, although both possess a tine climate that is a specific 
for lung trouble, that can compare its climatic advantages with 
those of New Mexico. The Territory knows of no cases of na- 
tive consumption, and in the higher altitudes and in certain lo- 
calities, of no enteric diseases, no malaria no diphtheria, no 
croup, no mosquitoes, no blizzards, no oppressive summer days 
or nights. At Santa Fe in winter, on sunny days, the tempera- 
ture in the sun runs up from fifty to eighty degrees, and in 
summer the shade temperature never exceeds ninety degrees 
except once or twice in a decade, ninety-seven degrees being 
the highest temperature on record in thirty years. Even a 
temperature of ninety-seven degrees, on account of the great 
dryness of the atmosphere and the invariably cool summer 
nights, is not as oppressive as a maximum temperature of 
seventy-two degrees at Chicago or New York. At Carlsbad 
and Las Cruces the mean temperature for January is forty- 
two degrees and in July a little less than eighty degrees, giv- 
ing the extremes of the mean temperatures for the year in 
southern New Mexico. The days of sunshine in every year 
average from 300 to 320, partly cloudy days from twenty-five 
to forty-five and cloudy days from twenty to thirty, there be- 
ing more cloudy days in summer than in winter, and no other 
commonwealth in the United States has an average sunshine 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 101 

record equal to that of New Mexico, which, for that reason is 
known as the "Sunshine Territory." During the six months 
ending March 1, 1904, the weather bureau at Santa Fe re- 
corded not a single cloudy day. 

But it is not only to healthseekers that New Mexico is a 
haven of refuge. It has been stated by some writers that 
tuberculosis can be treated successfully in any climate. All 
experience is against such a conclusion. It has been demon- 
strated beyond question that certain sections of the United 
States possess climatic characteristics which are peculiarly 
adapted to the successful management of the disease. The 
so-called arid regions of the great southwest, which comprise 
portions of southern Colorado, all of New Mexico and Arizona, 
together with that part of western Texas known as the "Llano 
Estacado,"' may be included in this favored section. The vast 
and salubrious stretch of country, which is so many times 
alluded to as a "land of sand, sagebrush and cacti," possesses 
in an almost unlimited degree those very elements which ob- 
servation has proved to be of the utmost value in the treat- 
ment of tuberculosis. 

Where medicines have failed the elements are succeeding. 
A pure atmosphere, containing an abundance of oxygen and 
electricity, in conjunction with a large amount of sunshine, is 
today fulfilling in an eminently satisfactory manner the mis- 
sion heretofore mapped out for such agents as cod-liver-oil, 
creosote and the various poisonous concoctions known as 
serums. 

The importance of chmate as a factor in the treatment of 
pulmonary tuberculosis is daily manifesting more and more 
its value, whether taken separately, or coupled with the va- 
rious specific plans of therapy now advocated and emploj-ed 
in this important branch of practice. Physicians are inform- 
ing themselves more widely upon this vital question, and the 
experiences gained by the practitioner hving amidst such 
ideal climatic conditions as exist in New Mexico are being 
looked upon with more interest and kindly consideration 
than has heretofore been accorded them. 

The consensus of opinion as expressed by the leading au- 
thorities on tuberculosis at the International Congress held 
at Moscow, Russia, two years ago, and later at London. Eng- 





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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 103 

land, and Madrid, Spain, was unanimously in favor of the cli- 
matic treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis over all other 
methods considered. 

The southwestern section of the United States has thou- 
sands of residents who came as tuberculosis patients, some 
of them as long as twenty-live years ago. They are today, and 
have been for many years, in good health, have married and 
reared children wdio are to all appearances absolutely free 
from tubercular disease. 

Animals, as w^ell as the human race, are hkewise remarkably 
free from tuberculosis in this region, as has been shown by 
the researches of Herrera and Lopez in Mexico, where the cli- 
matic conditions are practically similar to those existing in 
New Mexico. These investigators report that they have found 
but forty-five cases of tuberculosis in cattle out of 73,000 killed 
and examined at the government abattoir in the City of 
Mexico. 

It may be stated in a general w^ay that all specific plans of 
therapeutic treatment thus far suggested for the cure of tu- 
berculosis, and especially of the pulmonary form, have failed, 
so that one must look to nature rather than to the laboratory 
for the weapons to combat this enemy of the race. 

The early diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis is of the ut- 
most importance for it is in the beginning of the disease that 
the greatest benefit is derived in the largest proportion of 
cases from the climate or the out-of-door plan of treatment. 

New Mexico is essentially a "land of sunshine and blue 
skies." 

Here there is a dry and bracing climate, with no extreme 
heat or cold, a climate, which for the most jmrt, admits of an 
existence out of doors almost all the year round. It is these 
quahties of air and sky that have caused this favored region 
to be knowm today over the entire civilized world as the "Land 
of Sunshine." The pecuhar adaptabihty of such a climate to 
the successful management of consumption and other diseases 
of the lungs and respiratory tracts is causing invalids to flock 
here in great numbers, experience and observation having de- 
monstrated beyond further question the fact that the sea 
coast resorts have proved dismal failures in exercising either 





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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 105 

a corrective or retarding intiuence upon the diseases men- 
tioned above. 

The past few j'ears the medical profession, as weh as the 
laity, have been made aware, through various channels, of the 
vastly superior chmatic conditions existing throughout the 
Territory of New Mexico, and patients are seeking relief here 
by the hundreds where formerly they came only by the score. 

Osier says : "The requirements of a suitable climate are a 
pure atmosphere, an equable temperature not subject to rapid 
variations and a maximum amount of sunshine." Given these 
factors, and it makes little diffej-ence where a patient goes, as 
long as he lives an outdoor life. The purity of the atmosphere 
is the first consideration, and it is this requirement that is 
met so well in the mountains and the forests of New Mexico, 

The problem of the prevention of the further spread of tu- 
berculosis and its ultimate and complete eradication from the 
human race will be solved when physicians realize the import- 
ance of at once placing the patient suffering from, or threat- 
ened with, this disease in a suitable chmate. Children inher- 
iting this peculiar condition of the cellular structures and cell 
elements known as a tubercular tendency will develop, in a 
favorable chmate, a cell antagonism to the disease which can 
never be acquired in a climate where tubercular diseases are 
more common and one which favors the causes that lead, to 
tubercular disease. 

It is generally conceded by writers upon bacteriology that 
climatic conditions play a most conspicuous part in both de- 
velopment and retardation of microbic life. Epidemic diseases 
which have for their vehicles certain conditions of the atmos- 
phere, such as heat and moisture, constantly demonstrate 
their powe-*' of spreading contagion, the moisture contained in 
the air being the chief factor of preserving the vitality of the 
germ. 

To any one familiar with the extreme climatic difference 
between the Atlantic coast states and the Southwest, the great 
role played by the climate in each locality named, will at once 
become strikingly apparent to the most indifferent observer. 
Epidemics, such as la grippe, so fatal and destructive in their 
train of sequelae, are unknown in New Mexico. This is rather 
remarkable, in view of the fact that the bulk of the population. 




ESPIRITU SANTO LAKE. IN THE SANTA FE RANGE. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 107 

about three fourths, are native people, who hve in a humble 
and primitive state scarcely ever employing any modern sani- 
tary precautions to guard against epidemic invasions. The 
climatic conditions existing throughout the Territory and in 
the mountain regions more especially, the rarity and purity 
of the atmosphere, together with the almost constant direct 
rays of the sun. are the most powerful bactericides known to 
science today. A climate where discarded animal and vege- 
table substances undergo prompt and rapid desiccation after 
brief exposure to the atmosphere, without the least manifes- 
tation of decomposition, argues most strongly against bacte- 
rial development. The tuberculus bacilli lose their infective 
power in a very short tima after exposure to the sun's rays 
in the arid atmosphere. This clearly explains the curative 
effect of climate upon pulmonary tuberculosis. Constant in- 
halation of what may properly be termed an aseptic atmos- 
phere, in time, brings about in the pulmonary tissues, inflamed 
by tuberculous deposits, that xerj desiccation effected ujDon 
animal and vegetable substance exposed directly to the air. 

Although there are many invalids, principally persons with 
tuberculosis, there is not a case of tuberculosis on record in 
New Mexico that was communicated from the diseased to the 
healthy through the medium of the atmosphere. That the 
native people of this section experience such wonderful im- 
munity from tuberculosis, especially of the respiratory tract, 
must have its explanation in the very favorable climatic condi- 
tions surrounding. 

In order to derive all possible benefit from such a cli- 
mate as that of New Mexico the health seeker should live out 
of doors. If he has the strength to get about at all, the best 
he can do is to go into the pine forests and camp out. The 
nomadic life of the tent dweller is the best treatment for inci- 
pient pulmonary tuberculosis. It is often a grave mistake for 
an invalid to seek a change of climate in a place where he has 
no friends, no occupation, nothing to distract his mind from 
himself and his malady. In a few months he exhausts the pos- 
sibilities of mere curious interest in unfamiliar surroundings, 
and then he strolls about alone or with chance acquaintances 
until he becomes weary of the town and the monotony of his 
existence. Home sickness ensues, the mental disease some- 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 109 

times counterbalancing the climatic benefit, and the health- 
seeker in desperation returns to his home, preferring the 
certainty of death among friends, to the possibility of a pro- 
longed existence under unsupportable conditions. If such a 
health seeker would procure a saddle horse, pack animals, and 
a camp outfit and go into the mountains with a good guide and 
agreeable companions he would find no monotony, and no 
homesickness, but would gain strength and buoyancy of 
spirit and never know a dull hour. A year of out-of-door life 
in the dry, bracing air of New Mexico, will arrest many a case 
of incipient pulmonary tuberculosis, if the sufferer has the 
necessary strength and vitality to begin such a course of 
treatment and takes ordinary precautions against undue ex- 
posure and overexertion. 

Recognizing the superior climatic advantages of New Mex- 
ico for the treatment of diseases of the respiratory system, 
the United States government has established, and now has 
in successful operation, two large sanitariums, one operated 
under the auspices of the War Department and the other un- 
der the United States Marine Hospital Service. 

The action of the government m establishing its great sani- 
tariums for the treatment of consumption in New Mexico is a 
far greater and stronger eulogy on the climatic advantages of 
this Territory than anything that can be said or written upon 
the subject. 

Since the establishment six years ago of the two govern- 
ment sanitariums, one at Fort Bayard, and the other at Fort 
Stanton, several hundred soldiers and sailors, afflicted with 
tuberculosis, have been cured by the climatic treatment, which 
is the chief feature at both of these establishments. Liberal 
appropriations have been made by the national government 
for enlarging and improving both of these institutions, and 
they are destined to make a record in the future by the large 
and increasing per cent of cures they are effecting. Fresh air 
in abundance, both night and day, is the first and most im- 
portant factor in the treatment. Coupled with this are sun- 
shine, healthful and abundant diet, moderate exercise, amuse- 
ments and recreations of a suitable character. This con- 
stitutes the plan followed at both places, and they are proving 



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COURT HOUSE OF EDDY COUNTY, AT CARLSBAD. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. HI 

each day the immense advantages they possess over the old 
methods of treatment. 

Private sanitariums are rapidly springing up and this is a 
sure indication that at last capitalists as well as scientific men 
are beginning to admit in a practical way that the future of 
New Mexico has great possibihties in this respect. 

At Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Silver City, Las 
Cruces and other points, are now^ in successful operation ex- 
cellent sanitariums conducted by private individuals. Add to 
these the various mountain resorts and springs where camp 
life is a feature, it will be readily seen that at the present time 
much excellent provision is already made for health seekers, 
whereas only a few years ago, everything of this kind was ex- 
tremely crude. Special attention is given at all these places 
to making the dietary varied and wholesome. This with abun- 
dant sunshine and pure mountain spring w-ater, constitutes a 
trinity hard to surpass in the treatment of consumption. 

"Sunmount,'" beautifully situated in the foothills east and 
south of Santa Fe, is the pioneer tent city of this region and 
the most important. Great care in the selection of the site 
has repaid the managers, as the demand for accommodations 
increases daily. The "Holmes Sanitary Tent" is in use there 
and its construction is so ideal for the purpose that it permits 
of a comfortable life in the open air during the entire year. 
Grand scenery, constant sunshine, pure water from moun- 
tain springs, a generous cuisine, competent medical super- 
vision, trees with health-giving properties, like the spruce, 
cedar, pine and the Austrahan red gum or eucalyptus, togeth- 
er with the altitude of 7,000 feet, and the pure mountain air 
form an ideal combination of health and life giving-elements 
not to be found elsewhere, perhaps, on the continent. "Sun- 
mount" is surely destined to become the most noted health 
and pleasure resort in the entire southwestern country. A 
common mistake about this country is that it is a very expen- 
sive place to live in. At "vSunmount" excellent tents comfort- 
ably furnished are to be had at $10 and $15 per month. 

Charles E. Linney, director of the United States Weather 
Bureau at Santa Fe, speaks as follows of the New Mexico 
climate : 

"It is easy to say that the climate of this or that place is the 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 113 

finest in the world; it is less easy to show reliable facts and 
figures to bear out the statement, and it is least easy to con- 
vince the self satisfied public that some other spot can be, or 
is the more favored; facts, however, if they are facts, should 
be given credence. 

"It is with these barriers in view that a few facts (and sim- 
ple figures) regarding the climate of central and northern New 
Mexico are presented, this vast empire being in many respects 
nicely typified by Santa Fe, local contour, latitude and altitude 
being considered. 

"Discarding fractional finesse, the annual mean tempera- 
ture of Santa Fe (obtained from 31 years of carefully compiled 
records by the United States Weather Bureau) is 40-, a de- 
gree higher than that of Chicago, the same as that of Boston, 
a degree lower than Denver, six degrees cooler than Asheville, 
North Carolina, (which has the same latitude), seven degrees 
cooler than St. Louis and 20 - cooler than Jacksonville. This 
comfortable average too is the result of balancing 29 % the 
coldest month (January), with 69-, the warmest month (July). 
In 31 years the temperature has never risen to 100^, the high- 
est record being 97- in the month of August, 1878, and since 
the following year it has not touched 95^; the average num- 
ber of days each year with 90^ or higher is but two. The 
average daily maximum temperature (afternoon reading) of 
the warmest month (July) is but 81-, while the average night 
temperature of this month is but 57-, a summer temperature 
far more comfortable than that of St. Louis, Washington, New 
York, Boston, Chicago, Denver or St. Paul, and only ap- 
proached by the cities that nestle beside the frigid waters of 
Lake Superior. 

"On the other hand, winter is not bleak and cold; the average 
winter temperature is 31 , just below the freezing point. The 
temperature of the night falls to or below freezing a little over 
one hundred times each year, while zero temperatures are 
rarely recorded. The lowest actual record is 13^ below zero 
in December, 1879, and in January, 1883; many winters pass 
without a record of zero temperature. 

"The annual precipitation (including rain, snow, sleet and 
hail) is 14.3 inches; Denver the same; Chicago, 34.8; St. Louis, 
41.1; Asheville, 42.5; Washington, 44.8; Boston, 45.0, and Jack- 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 115 

sonville, 54.1 inches. While the rainfall is low it should be 
borne in mind that 62 per cent of the amount occurs in the 
spring and summer months, leaving the fall and winter 
months dry and invigorating. July is the wettest m.onth, 
averaging 2.8 inches, while but 0.7 inch (or less) are measured 
in November, December, January, February and March. The 
average number of days with 0.01 of an inch or more of pre- 
cipitation is 81, against 111 at St. Louis, 120 at Chicago, 121 
at Boston, 122 at Washington, and 127 at Jacksonville. These 
figures for Santa Fe, however, do not represent days with con- 
tinuous rain, but rather days with showers of short duration, 
for a day with continuous rain is practically unknown. 

"The sunshine of Santa Fe is proverbial; there is annually 
recorded 76 per cent of the possible amount, against 69 per 
cent at Denver, 65 per cent at St. Louis, 59 per cent at Wash- 
ington, 54 per cent at Boston and 53 per cent at Chicago. With 
all of these cities, excepting only Denver, the greatest amount 
of sunshine occurs in summer, while here the highest per- 
centage is in the fall, spring and winter in the order named- 
expressed differently this means that there is a partial veiling 
of the sun's rays during the heat of the summer, but a full and 
free bestowal of its glorious rays during the remaining nine 
months of the year. Occasionally, the amount of sunshine 
reaches the marvelous total of 93 per cent of the possible 
(June, 1902), and it has never fallen below 55 per cent (Jan- 
uary, 1898). In actual hours of sunshine the record averages 
3,352 hours in a year, 9.2 hours for each day. 

"The average relative humidity is slightly below 46 per cent, 
it is highest, slightly below 55 per cent, in January, and low- 
est 33 per cent in June. The annual relative humidity at 
Denver is 50 per cent; at St. Louis 70 per cent; at Boston 
72 per cent; at Washington 73 per cent; at Chicago 77.per cent, 
and at Jacksonville 80 per cent. For the warmest months of 
the year— June, July, August and September— the average at 
St. Louis is 66 per cent; Chicago and Boston 74 per cent; 
Washington 75 per cent and Jacksonville 82 per cent; in other 
words the humidity during the heat of the summer in the 
eastern cities is considerably greater than the annual average, 
while, just the opposite condition prevails in Santa Fe, where 
it is a dry heat, thus always free from enervating effects. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 117 

"The average hourly wind movement is low (6.9 miles per 
hour) and it is rare indeed that a storm velocity (40 miles an 
hour or higher) is attained, there being but 37 such records 
in 21 years. There is no record of the wind ever having at- 
tained a velocity of 60 miles an hour at Santa Fe. 

"Summarized, the climate may be described as one that is 
mild and equable, much given to sunshine, free from great 
heat, high winds, humidit}^ and debilitating effects so notice- 
able in the central and eastern cities, free also from the cold 
and snow and storm of other northern cities, a climate of clear 
skies, small rainfall, few storms and those of short duration, 
one which is usually warm in the sun in winter and cool in the 
shade in summer." 



CHAPTER VI. 

MINERAL AND HOT SPRINGS. 

nEW MEXICO is not only blessed with a climate that is a 
boon to health seekers, but it also possesses mineral 
and hot springs whose waters have curative powers 
that are wonderful. One of the most remarkable 
groups of thermal springs in the United States is located at 
Ojo Caliente, Taos countj^ 6,290 feet above sea level. There 
are three large hot springs, wdiose curative powers were 
recognized before the white man entered New Mexico. The 
temperature of the w^ater ranges from 90 to 122 degrees 
Fahrenheit and their gases are carbonic. The waters contain 
1,687.34 grains of alkaline salts to the gallon, and the springs 
are therefore considered the richest alkaline hot springs in 
the world. Associated with the hot springs is a lithia spring 
especially effective in the cure of kidney troubles. Ojo Caliente 
is reached by a short stage ride from Barranca on the Santa 
Fe-Antonito branch of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. 

At Las Vegas Hot Springs, 6,767 feet above the level of the 
sea, six miles from the City of Las Vegas, is a group of hot 
springs, whose waters resemble those at the famous hot 
springs at Teplitz, Austria, although its two chief active con- 
stituents, carbonate and sulphate of sodium, recall the waters 
of Carlsbad. The hottest of the springs is 144 degrees Fahren- 
heit. The mineral elements vary from the saline to the lithia 
and sulphur. The waters are conveyed by pipes into the bath 
houses and natatorium, and stimulate the digestive organs 
into activity, being especially potent in stomach disorders, 
intestinal troubles, liver complaints, kidney trouble, gout, 
diabetes and kindred ailments. The magnificent Montezuma 
Hotel at the springs is to be reopened in 1905. The hot springs 
are reached from Las Vegas by electric railway. 

Two groups of hot mineral springs are located in the Valles 
mountains, fifty miles west of Santa Fe, and accessible from 
Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Espanola by good w^agon roads. 
The altitude of the lower springs is 6,620 feet and of the higher 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 



121 



group 6,740 feet. The waters of the largest of the lower 
springs have a temperature of 168 degrees, running about fifty 
gallons per minute, with escaping carbonic acid gas and depo- 
sits of white carbonate of lime. There is also a spring of 130 
degrees with free carbonic acid and red brown deposits; a 
spring of 119 degrees with sulphuretted hydrogen and iron. 
The waters of the other springs in the group range from 102 
to 108 degrees and carry sodium, lime and magnesia. These 
springs are very efficacious in rheumatic complaints. The 
upper group consists of forty-two springs, whose waters 
range in temperature from 70 to 106 degrees. They flow from 
caves of carbonate of hme. The springs contain 27.26 parts 
of sohds in 100 parts of water, mostly chloride of sodium and 
sulphate and carbonate of soda, hme and magnesia and resem- 
ble the famous springs of Marienbad, Europe. Besides the 
hot springs north of the upper group, are numerous cold 
springs. Hotel accommodations are provided at these springs. 
The mineral springs at Carlsbad, Eddy county, have the 
largest fiow of any mineral springs in the southwest. They 
pour forth 5,000 gallons of mineralized water a minute, whose 
constituents are almost identical with those of the Friedrichs- 
haU spring at Carlsbad, Austria, the waters being invaluable 
as an aperient and alterative. Plans have been perfected for 
the erection of a sanitarium and hotel at the springs. The 
beautiful town of Carlsbad, nearby, however, furnishes good 
and convenient accommodations for ah visitors. 

At Fay wood. Grant county, three miles from Fay wood sta- 
tion on the Santa Fe railway, are springs of 142 degrees Fah- 
renheit and which are efticacious in cases of rheumatism, 
stomach and kidney troubles, and blood and skin diseases, 
the waters resembhng those of Carlsbad, Austria. The 
altitude of the springs is 5.782 feet. A commodious hotel has 
been erected at Faywood. Three miles north of the hotel, is 
another group of mineral springs. 

The Coyote mineral springs, twelve miles from Albuquer- 
que, are highly esteemed for their curative powers. They are 
mildly laxative and diuretic and are specific in gout, rheuma- 
tism, dyspepsia and kidney and liver troubles. On the other 
side of the Sandias, on the Tejon grant, are also fine mineral 
springs but not yet exploited. 




IN THE GALLINAS CANON NEAR LAS VEGAS. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 123 

Near Folsom, at an altitude of 6,500 feet, on the Colorado 
Southern Railroad, are hot springs of great medicinal value. 
Nearby is the extinct volcano Capulin, with one of the most 
perfectly formed craters in the southwest. 

Ten miles southwest of the quaint old Pueblo of Zuni, and 
further south on the San Francisco river, are hot and mineral 
springs, known and used by the natives for the past three cen- 
turies and longer. 

At an altitude of 6,540 feet, in Socorro county, at Cher ryville> 
accessible by stage from Eiigle, there are hot mineral springs, 
with a temperature of 120 degrees. At Palomas in Sierra 
county, on the Gila river in southwestern Socorro county, on 
the upper Mimbres in Grant county, and in other parts of New 
Mexico are found hot and cold springs, whose curative powers 
are equal to those of the springs described above, and situated 
in canons or valleys of wild but idyllic beauty. Near Estancia, 
in Valencia county, are very strong alkaline springs; a mile 
southeast of Santa Fe are the Aztec mineral springs; eight 
miles west of Santa Fe is a mineral spring reported to be the 
equal to the famous soda spring at Manitou, Colorado. At 
Wamsleys, Taos county, are fine hot mineral springs whose 
waters have effected cures that border on the miraculous, and 
the waters of the artesian well at Springer are mineralized 
and are bottled for trade. 

This is only a list of the better known and most accessible 
of the hot and mineral springs in New Mexico, whose heal- 
ing waters have stood the test of time, and it is not uncommon 
to have people come a thousand miles or more to take advant- 
age of their curative powers. 





ON THE SCENIC ROUTE ROAD NEAR SANTA FE. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ATTRACTIONS FOR TOURISTS. 

no other commonwealth is as rich as New Mexico in j^re. 
liistoric remains and historic landmarks. In the Paja- 
rito Cliff Dweller's Park, twenty miles west of Santa 
Fe, are twenty thousand chff dwelhngs and ruins of 
communal buildings, some of which had as high as 1,200 and 
more rooms. They are of two kinds : 

1. Cliff dw^ellings proper. These are houses built on high 
ledges under overhanging cliffs. They are closely allied to 
the ancient style of pueblo ruins. In these the back walls 
are formed by the natural cliffs, while the front and partition 
walls are of masonrj^ consisting of rudely dressed stone laid 
in adobe mortar and chinked with smaller stones in a manner 
almost identical with that of the Pueblo ruins. 

2. Cavite lodges. These dwellings are usually high and in 
many cases are in almost inaccessible cliffs. In the earliest 
stages they consisted of natural caves, but with the develop- 
ment of the people occupying them, these dwellings were im- 
proved. In their highest stages of perfection, they consisted 
of wholly artificial caves in perpendicular cliffs. A doorway 
is hewn into the face of the cliffs to a depth of from three to 
five feet. Then the excavation of the dwelling began. A front 
room, circular, oval or rectangular was dug out. It may be 
from six to twenty feet in diameter according to the use for 
which it was designed. If for a sleeping room only, it is liable 
to be from six to eight feet in diameter, with low ceiling often 
not over four feet. If designed for a kiva, it may attain to a 
dimension of fifteen to twenty feet in diameter, with higher 
ceilings. Those designed for general living-rooms are usually 
from eight to twelve feet in diameter, with ceilings not over 
six to seven feet above the floor. There are usually one or 
more smaller rooms connected with the main living rooms by 
very small doorways. These were probably used for storage. 
The interiors are generally plastered to a height of about four 
feet above the floor with adobe mortar. In some places there 




COURT HOUSE OF GRANT COUNY AT SILVER CITY. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 



127 



has been considerable attempt at wall decorations. The outer 
doorways are small, often not to exceed one and one-half by 

four feet. 

Pueblo ruins. These are spoken of as Pueblo ruins not be- 
cause they have been occupied by the Pueblo Indians in his- 
toric times, but because of their resemblance to the large ter- 
raced structures occupied by the hving Pueblo people. The 
finest specimens of this class of ruins in existence are to be 
found in New Mexico, being very numerous in several parts 
of the Territory. They are built of sandstone, volcanic tufa, 
lava and cobble stones, the material used in their construc- 
tion depending upon the natural formations found in the 
vicinity where located. 

The Pajarito Park is a tract embraced between the Rio 
Grande on the east, the Jemez mountains on the west, the Rito 
de los Frijoles on the south, and the Chama river on the north. 
It is a park of great natural beauty, being for the most part a 
plateau of from 6,000 to 9,000 feet altitude, and cut by deep 
canons. The western portion attains an altitude of over 10,000 
feet in places, and is covered by a heavy growth of pine and 
spruce. A considerable part of the tract is underlaid with 
volcanic tufa varying in thickness from fifty to one thousand 
feet. In the northeastern part this is entirely eroded away. 
Throughout the north central section the tufa remains in long 
tongue-hke mesas or potreros, which rise abruptly— in 
many places perpendicularly— to a height of from 100 to 150 
feet. In the southern part, the tufa extends to the Rio 
Grande in a sheet of varying thickness, and here innu- 
merable canons are cut out by the mountain torrents. The 
face of the country thus presents many miles of almost per 
pendicular cliffs of yellowish and orange colored tufa, and in 
these are found the cliff dwellings. 

This is one of the richest archaeological fields on this conti- 
nent. Many thousands of cave dwellings have been explored, 
the largest of the communal houses have been examined and 
mapped. Hundreds of smaller stone ruins have been located 
and sufficiently investigated, and a small beginning has been 
made in burial mound exploratitm. Another interesting line 
which promises good results is that of photographing and 
sketching the pictographs or rock writings of the prehistoric 




ARTESIAN WELL AT ROSWELL. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 129 

inhabitants. These inscriptions are evidently the work of 
tribes far more remote than the immediate progenitors of 
the Pueblos, who occupied these dwelhngs in comparatively 
recent times, that is, about 350 years ago. Almost all of these 
inscriptions have been copied and are being worked up. 

A fine group of Pueblo ruins is situated in the Pajarito 
Park. These are the largest that have been found, some of 
them having contained as high as 1,200 rooms. The largest 
and most interesting are Puye, Otowi, Tsankawi, Navakwiand 
Tshrega. These have been. carefully mapped and measured, 
but very little excavation has been done. In the same region 
are several hundred smaller Pueblo ruins, containing origin- 
ally from one room to 500 each. This class in the Pajarito 
Park is built of volcanic tufa. Similar ruins exist in Chaco 
Canon, in San Juan county. Here the prehistoric village 
Indians seemed to have attained their highest culture and de- 
velopment. There are fourteen large stone buildings in the 
region, several of which are in the best state of preservation 
of any such ruins that are known. They are vastly superior 
in construction to any of the present occupied pueblos. In 
some the walls still stand to a height of thirty feet and include 
remnants of the fifth story. They were originally from three 
to five stories high. They contain from 100 to 1,200 rooms 
each and were built of sandstone. 

The most remarkable are Kin Kale, Wejegi, Una Vida, 
HungoPavis, Chetiro Kettle, Bonito, Tuba Kin, Penasco, Blan- 
co, Pueblo Alto, Kin Khzhin and Kimineola. Nowhere else in 
this country are there such splendid groups of prehistoric 
buildings m a fair state of preservation. They are also the 
richest known relics of prehistoric culture. The Pueblo ruins 
at Gran Quivira, at Abo, at Pueblo Viejo, in the San Mateo 
mountains, and near Santa Fe, as well as the cliff dwellings 
on the Gila, are equal ia historic and archyeologic interest to 
those mentioned above. 

In these localities is found practically every phase of the 
prehistoric culture of the southwest. The Pajarito Park lies 
near the City of Santa Fe, and is easy of access in the north- 
ern part from Espanola, on the Denver and Rio Grande Rail- 
road, in the central part from Buckman, on the same road, 
and in the southern part from Thornton, on the Santa Fe Rail- 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 13] 

way via Cochiti. The Chaco Canon is about seventy miles from 
Thoreaii, on the Santa Fe Pacific Railway, and about 120 miles 
from Durango, on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. It 
may also be reached in about four days drive from Bernalillo 
or Santa Fe. 

The Old Mission churches. Foremost in interest and value in 
historicarchaeology are the old mission churches of the Fran- 
ciscans. In every occupied Indian pueblo and at the site of 
almost every abandoned pueblo, there is one of the monuments 
of those pioneers of Christianitj'^ and civilization, the Francis- 
can Fathers. Many of these are in a good state of preservation, 
while others are in ruins, but ever}^ one is an object of historic 
interest. 

The old mission church of San Diego, which is the oldest of 
the California missions, was founded in 1769. It is almost a 
total ruin; only the front remains in a good state of preserva- 
tion. The side walls are still standing, but no j)ortions of the 
roof or interior remain. This is the most venerable and vene- 
rated historic monument in the State of California, and is an- 
nually visited by thousands of tourists. It has stood for 164 
years. It marks the beginning of civilization and Christianity 
in California. 

In New Mexico, on the upper Pecos, thirty-five miles west of 
Las Vegas, at the site of the abandoned Pueblo of Cicuye, are 
the ruins of the old Pecos church. They are as well preserved 
as those of San Diego. The church is 300 years old. It was 
nearly 150 years old when the San Diego mission was founded. 
It was projected before the Spanish Armada was destroyed 
and antedates the coming of the Mayflower and the settlement 
of Jamestown. All that is said of the old Pecos church, may be 
said of that of Jemez. They were built at the same time. The 
one at Quivira was founded in 1630, and is a fairly well pre- 
served ruin. The churches at San Ildefonso and Santa Clara 
are in a complete state of preservation. They are nine years 
older than the oldest of the California ruins. The old San 
Miguel mission in Santa Fe has been rebuilt. Its walls date 
from 16r)0, the roof from 1694, or possibly a few years later. 
These are only a few examples selected at random from the 
large number of ancient churches of equally great interest 
scattered over New Mexico. Inscription Rock near Zuni and 




SAN MIGUEL S CHURCH AT SANTA FE. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 133 

every one of the pueblos from Taos on the north to Isleta on 
the south, and from the Rio Grande pueblos in the central 
part, to Zuni in the west, are all worthy of a visit both for his- 
toric and present day interest. 

There is no other building to compare in historic interest 
with the Old Palace at Santa Fe, and there is no city or town 
in the United States which offers so much of interest to the 
tourist as that city. 

Scenic ^A^onders. 

New Mexico possesses many scenic attractions. Its moun- 
tains equal the Alps in ruggedness and height; its valleys and 
waterfalls have a picturesqueness of their own; its forests 
such as are included in the Pecos and other forest re- 
serves offer sylvan retreats of rare beauty; its mesas and 
plains are not without their attractions, and a visit to its old 
settlements as well as to the Indian pueblos and the Indian 
reservations is well worth many miles of travel. The Scenic 
Route road that is being built between Santa Fe and Las Ve- 
gas, through the Pecos forest reserve, and over the highest 
and steepest divides of the Sangre de Cristo range, open to the 
travehng public as beautiful scenery as any in the world. 
The Sacramento Mountain Railway in Otero county is a won- 
der that brings travelers from all parts of the United States. 
The Gran Quivira ruins, the Salt Lakes, the White Sands, 
Inscription Rock, the Mai Pais, the Jornada del Muerto, the 
Guadalupe Caves, possess a weirdness and an interest that 
have made them world-famous. New Mexico's hot springs, 
mountain retreats and summer resorts combine many advant- 
ages and attractions difficult to find anywhere else. New 
Mexico has an atmosphere of its own, just as Spain, Italy or 
Greece. Here the civihzation of centuries ago and of today 
meet; here are found prehistoric ruins and historic monu- 
ments, the history of yesterday and of today have left their im- 
pression side by side; the civilization of the Indian, the Span- 
iard, the Mexican and the Yankee commingle. Still, New 
Mexico is strictly up-to-date in its government, in its hotels, 
railroad accommodations, in the protection the law affords, in 
its universities, its colleges, its pubhc schools, its sanitariums, 
its charitable institutions, in its progress and in its prosper- 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 135 

it}'. Churches are found in every settlement, newspapers in 
every town, together with fine stores, banking institutions 
and every safety, comfort and luxury that the centers of civi- 
lization of the east afford. 

A General Invitation. 

New Mexico wants more people, it needs them, it has room 
and resources for them. It offers to immigrants a fine cli- 
mate, homesteads, great natural resources: to the health 
seeker health: to the tourist scenic and historic attractions: 
to the sportsman good fishing and hunting: to the summer 
and winter guests, the best summer and winter chmate in the 
world, hot and cold mineral springs, mountain retreats, ranch 
resorts, good hotel accommodations and the comforts and 
luxuries of modern communities: to the farmer good crops, 
not threatened by chmatic vicissitudes: to the coal miner per- 
manent work and good pay: to the prospector extensive min- 
eral dejDOsits: to the mechanic and jDrofessional man the same 
and better chances than anv other country that is setthnscup. 
room on the top if he deserves it: to the stockman a free range 
and an ideal climate for stock raismg: to the manufacturer 
openings to establish factories and mills that should \ield 
good profits: to the real estate man cheap land and a chance 
to make money by putting up modern residences, and to the 
capitahst opportunities to make more money and to buy any- 
thing that his heart may desire, from a land grant as big as a 
European kingdom, to a gold or copper mine worth a miUion 
dollars. 

Health seekers should come to New Mexico by all means. 
They should come before disease has made inroads upon 
the system if they want to be sure of recovery, they should 
come if the disease has advanced noticeably, for possible cure 
or a certain prolongation of life: but they should not come 
without means or provision to pay their way, the first year at 
least. The jobs for health seekers are few and far between 
and a health seeker should not work for a living for a time after 
coming to New Mexico, if he desires to regain his health 
speedil}'. Living is about as reasonable in cost in Xew Mexico 
as anywhere else in the L'nited States. The health seeker 
can live in a tent, on a vacant lot or out on the mesa, and if he 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 1.37 

cooks his own meals, living need not cost him $4.00 a week; at 
a tent city, a hotel or a sanitarium he can have lodging and 
board from $6.00 to $15.00 a week, and at private houses at 
from $5.00 to $10.00 a week. 

The laws of competition and trade are the same here as else- 
where. Fortunes are very seldom made in one day. The poor 
man who comes to New Mexico must expect to work and to 
work hard for a living; the capitalist must invest and invest 
judiciously to make money. After this is said, however, it 
can also be truthfully said that New Mexico offers great op- 
portunities to the honest and intelligent worker to become 
independent and to gain affluence and civil and political pro- 
minence; and to the shrewd and careful capitalist, greater 
and surer returns on his investment than any other section on 
the face of the Globe. 

It is to the homeseeker, to the farmer, to the stock raiser, 
to the miner, to the merchant, to the manufacturer, to the 
capitalist that New Mexico is an undeveloped empire of mag- 
nificent resources which throws a peerless climate into the 
bargain with the rich returns that are offered to the man with 
capital to invest or with brain and brawn to apply. 



CHAPTER VIII, 

COUNTIES, CITIES AND TOWNS. 

nEW MEXICO has an area of 122,469 square miles; which 
is more than the area of the kingdom of Italy with 
its 35,000,000 of people. The population is estimated 
to be 28-1,000. The Territory is divided into twenty- 
four counties. The northern are Union, Colfax, Taos, Rio 
Arriba and San Juan, all bordering on Colorado. The north 
central are San Miguel, Mora, Santa Fe, Sandoval, Quay and 
McKinley; the south central are Roosevelt, Chaves, Leonard 
Wood, Bernalillo, Valencia, Lincoln and Socorro; the southern 
tier consists of Eddy, Otero, Dona Ana, Luna, Sierra and 
Grant. A twenty-fifth county, Torrance, with county seat at 
Progreso, near the geographical center of the Territory, will 
come into existence on January 1, 1905. 

Bernalillo County. 

This is the smallest and most populous of the counties. Area 
1,567 square miles, which is several hundred more than 
the area of the State of Rhode Island. Population 25,500. 
Assessed valuation in 1903, §3,103,500. Post offices, Albuquer- 
que, Old Albuquerque, Alameda, Carpenter, Chilih, Griegos, 
Martinez, Milagros, Padillas, Pajarito, Palma and Isleta. Of 
its 1,002,962 acres, 563,123 acres have been appropriated, be- 
ing located mostly in land grants, while 425,000 acres are still 
subject to entry under the United States land laws. 

The principal industries are manufacturing, farming, fruit 
growing, stock raising and railroading. Its central location, 
great diversity of topography and fine climate, railroad facili- 
ties and the fact that the Rio Grande flanked by a fertile val- 
ley on each side, cuts through the county from north to south, 
place its prosperity on a permanent basis. There are 250,000 
acres which eventually can be placed under irrigation and 
300,000 acres are considered good pasture. In seasons of 
average rainfall, the grass grows abundantly and owing to its 
peculiar character cures on the ground during the fall, and 
instead of washing out and becoming valueless like the ordi- 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 141 

dinary grass, it is like hay and makes almost as good feed in 
the winter as in the summer. The county has quite an irri- 
gation system. The total area under ditch at present is 20,- 
000 acres of which about 5,000 are cultivated. There are many 
available reservoir sites and room for modern irrigation sys- 
tems. The soil of the valley is strong, especially in the min- 
eral elements, being composed almost entirely from detritus 
from the mountains and foothills and lacking only the addi- 
tion of a very little animal or vegetable matter now and then 
to keep it rich indefinitely. The true farming policy is to 
have small farms, closely cultivated and yielding as land can 
only be made to yield under irrigation. In addition to the 
ordinary grain and vegetable crops, tobacco does especially 
well. Some of the soil being alkaline, asparagus proves very 
profitable. Besides the Rio Grande, the Rio Puerco flows 
through the county from north to south, but as it has cut its 
bed deep into the soil, there is not much irrigation along the 
upper portion of the stream. The Santa b'e Railway traverses 
the county. The Santa Fe Central cuts through the eastern 
part ana the Santa Fe Pacific forms a junction with the 
Santa Fe at Isleta, in the southern part. The Albuquerque 
Eastern will soon bo constructed from Moriarty, Santa Fe 
county, to Albuquerque, over the Tijeras pass in the Sandias, 
a distance of forty-three miles. It has forty miles of railroad, 
to which the Albuquerque Eastern when completed will add 
twenty-five miles. Its principal mountain ranges are the San- 
dias and the San Ysidros. There are good mineral indications 
but no large mining camps as yet, although at Milagros in 
Hell Canon, and in the Sandias, considerable prospecting and 
some development work has been done. Coal veins crop out on 
the surface near Tijeras canon in the Sandias and in the north- 
western part of the county. Isleta, one of the largest Pueblo 
Indian villages, is situated in the southern part, and as it is at 
the junction of the Santa Fe Railway and the Santa Fe Pacific 
Railroad, it is much visited by tourists. The county seat and 
the largest city of New Mexico, is 

Albuquerque. 

In every sense, modern and progressive, it is the acknowl- 
edged commercial center of New Mexico. Its merchants cover 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 143 

a trade territory of about 100,000 square miles, or a district 
larger than the six New England States and the State of New 
York combined, which gives the place a wholesale trade much 
larger than is done by any eastern city of three times its popu- 
lation. The population of the place, according to the census, 
was 6,326. Old Albuquerque, which is practically a portion 
of the city proper, has 1,191 people, and more distant suburban 
precincts have 4,613 inhabitants, giving the city and suburbs 
a population of 12,042 at the time of the census of 1900, and a 
very conservative estimate places the increase since that time 
at 3,000, making the present total a little more than 15,000. 
It has a fine system of public schools, with a large and mo- 
dern school house in each ward and a handsome high school 
building centrally located. There are in addition, a number 
of good private schools, while denominational institutions are 
maintained by the Methodists, Presbyterians and Catholics. 
It is also the seat of the University of New Mexico, estab- 
lished and maintained by the Territory and endowed by the 
United States with a liberal donation of public land. The 
University buildings are located upon an eminence about 200 
feet above the general level of the town, with an unobstructed 
view for many miles in every direction. With the Sandia 
Mountains twelve miles east for a background, the view takes 
in the Jemez mountains, sixty miles north, the San Mateos, 
seventy miles west, and the Socorro and Magdalenas seventy- 
five miles south, while with the glass may be seen the Mogo- 
llons, more than 225 miles to the southwest. The institution 
has a first class faculty and ranks among the best western 
colleges. "Hadley Hall," a handsome $20,000 structure, gives 
the University a department devoted exclusively to the study 
of climatology, with a special reference to the effect of cli- 
mate on the cure and prevention of tuberculosis and kindred 
diseases, the only institution of the kind in the United States. 
Albuquerque is also the location of a large government In- 
dian Industrial School with more than 300 pupils. In the 
matter of religious advantages, the town is very thoroughly 
equipped. All the leading Christian denominations have con- 
gregations there, with good commodious houses of worship. 
There are places for public entertainment and amusement, 
including the Opera House just completed, in which are 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 145 

given lectures, operas, theatrical entertainments, etc., and 
during the entertainment season the people of the city are 
never at a loss for "some place to go." One of the institutions 
of Albuquerque worthy of special notice is the "Commercial 
Club." This represents a successful combination of business 
and social interests, and possesses within the one organiza- 
tion all the principal features of a chamber of commerce and 
a social club. 

Shops of the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad are located here and 
furnish employment to over 700 men. 

There is a system of water works. There are also elec- 
tric light and gas plants. The streets are lighted by electri- 
city. The city has an electric street railway and free delivery 
of mail. 

Water for irrigation purposes can be secured from driven 
wells from ten to thirty feet deep anywhere in the Valley of 
the Rio Grande, but for city purposes it is procured from 
wells 100 to 600 feet deep. 

The streets are graded and most of them paved with natu- 
ral cement from the neighboring hills, and laid upon a foun- 
dation of cobble stones and gravel, making a thoroughfare 
very firm, smooth and durable. Good sidewalks line the prin- 
cipal streets, the popular material for this purpose being ar- 
tificial stone made of sand and Portland cement upon a foun- 
dation of gravel. 

One of the largest sanitariums in the west is located here 
and is conducted by the Sisters of Charity. The Santa Fe 
Railway Company has built at this point the finest and most 
commodious station building and hotel on the line of its road 
betw^een Chicago and San Francisco. 

The manufacturing interests in addition to the railroad 
shops, are represented by a foundry, and machine shops; a 
brewery and two ice factories, two flouring mihs, two min- 
eral water establishments, a planing mill, four brick yards, 
two cigar factories, a broom factory, a wool scouring plant, 
two steam laundries, a box factory and many smaller estab- 
lishments. Of the 22,000,000 pounds of wool produced annu- 
ally in New Mexico, Albuquerque merchants handle fully one- 
fifth, a large portion of which is now manufactured at home 
by a woolen mill of fair capacity. This enterprise is very com- 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 147 

prehensive in its scope and includes all the processes of pull- 
ing, scouring, dyeing, tanning and manufacturing wool and 
leather. 

The American Lumber Company has erected a large saw 
mill just northwest of the city with a capacity of 100,000 feet 
of lumber per day. 

There are openings here for a canning factory and a beet 
sugar factory, not to speak of a tannery, shoe factory, furni- 
ture factory and other establishments. The census of 1900 
credited the county with $864,604 capital invested in manu- 
factures, $793,644 of that being invested in Albuquerque. 
This gives employment to 1,140 men, and the value of their 
products is $2,007,772 a year. 

Nearly all lines of business, commercial, mechanical, and 
professional, are represented. The town has several prosper- 
ous banking institutions. 

There are two daily papers: The Albuquerque Journal, 
issued every morning, and the Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 
every evening except on Sunday; six weekly papers, tw^o 
Enghsh and fouf Spanish, and several monthly publications. 
The town also possesses the largest and best free public li- 
brary in the southwest, which is maintained by a special tax 
levied by the city and for which a fine building was recenth' 
donated by a public spirited citizen. 

Albuquerque has good railway facilities. The Atchison, 
Topeka and Santa Fe gives it access to all points north and 
south, w^hile the Santa Fe Pacific gives it a direct commu- 
nication with all the country between the Rio Grande and the 
Pacific coast. That portion of New Mexico directly east of 
Albuquerque has never been in close touch with the city by 
rail, but the want of first class facilities in that direction will 
be supplied by the Santa Fe Central and the Albuquerque 
Eastern. The former road is completed, while the latter will 
be in course of construction soon. 

The climate of Albuquerque, while it possesses the char- 
acteristics of that of New Mexico in general, is milder in 
winter than that of the more northern towns, and owing to its 
lower altitude the city is a sanitarium for those health seekers 
who cannot bear the more severe winters and the greater al- 
titude of the northern counties. During the summer months 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 149 

the near-by City of Santa Fe and the many convenient moun- 
tain resorts offer a refuge from the heat, which, is at no time 
as oppi<essive as it is in the more humid east. It is only during 
the afternoon hours in July and August that the maximum 
temperature at times reaches 100 degrees, which seems ten 
degrees to twenty degrees lower than it would be in a more 
humid climate. 

Chaves County. 

Area 5,599 square miles and a population of 10,000. It is 
the most rapidly growing of the counties and while formerly 
the open range live stock interests were the mainstay, it is 
today a great producer of alfalfa and fruit. Its system of 
artesian wells and abundance of irrigation water from the 
Pecos and tributaries have brought to it a new glory. The 
splendidly stocked Hereford and Shorthorn breeding ranches 
and the sheep and wool growing industries, however, are ex- 
panding for the greater part of this little empire always 
will be grazing land, pure and simple. The irrigation systems 
at present obtain their supply of water from four sources: 
The immense springs in the vicinity of Roswell fed by sub- 
terranean streams of artesian nature. From these five limpid 
streams flow, the North Berrendo, Middle Berrendo, South 
Berrendo, North Spring and the South Spring rivers. These 
are stocked with black bass offering sport to the disciples of 
Isaac Walton. From artesian wells which are making this re- 
gion famous. From flood waters from the great watershed of 
the White Mountain region. At Roswell begins the canal sys- 
tem of the Pecos valley in which millions of dollars have been 
invested, and which, taken as a whole, is the finest in the 
United States. The Pecos river carries a large volume of 
water and divides the county into halves, crossing it from 
north to south. In the artesian well district are 75,000 acres 
of cultivable fertile soil and this area will eventually be in- 
creased to 150,000 acres. The first flow is reached at a depth 
of from 150 to 200 feet and it costs from $200 to $250 to drill a 
well to reach it. The second flow is tapped at 250 feet and a 
well to it costs from |300 to $350. A fair average of the flow 
is 600 gallons a minute although a maximum of 3,500 gallons 
is reached by one well, and there are others flowing from 




ARTESIAN WELL AT ARTESIA. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 151 

1,000 to 1,500 gallons a minute. With a storage reservoir, one 
well furnishes enough water to irrigate 160 acres of land. 
The United States government has decided to build a reser- 
voir on the Hondo at a cost of $800,000, which will reclaim 
12,000 acres. The county has 12,000 acres in apple orchards, 
producing good, fruit. Plums, pears and peaches, the last on 
high ground, do just as well. Cantaloupes and melons attain 
their greatest development in flavor and general character 
right here, and celery has become a staple crop. Oats, rye, 
barley, alfalfa, sorghum, millet, Kaffir corn, wheat, potatoes, 
onions and garden vegetables flourish. A specialty is being 
made of high grade cattle, one ranch having 1,200 head of su- 
perb Herefords, including the famous Ancient Briton, that 
cost $4,000. The assessment in 1903, was $2,939,012. There 
are 300,000 sheep and 100,000 cattle in the county. Fattening 
hogs on alfalfa is also proving a profitable industry. The 
county has 5,351,106 acres of public lands subject to entry, an 
area equal to that of the State of Maryland. The post offices 
are: Alellen, Dexter, Elk, Fehx, Glen, Hagerman, Kenna, 
Lower Penasco and Roswell. The county seat is 

Roswell, 

a city of 6,000 inhabitants, the fourth largest town in New 
Mexico and growing at a rapid rate. It is a pretty and pro- 
gressive town, being situated in the commercial, hneal and 
geographical center of the Pecos Valley Railroad system. It 
is located near the confluence of the abundant waters of the 
Pecos and Hondo rivers, and is the supply and shipping point 
of a large area for both cattle and sheep, surrounded by fer- 
tile lands and exhaustless irrigation resources, including both 
the canal and the artesian weUs. The town is daily adding to 
its importance as one of the most active and prosperous busi- 
ness centers of New Mexico. 

The city is replete with brick business blocks and resi- 
dences; is the site of the New Mexico Military Institute, has 
two large modern public school buildings, two newspaper 
plants, the Daily and Weekly Record, and the Roswell Reg- 
ister, three national banks, an elegant and commodious club, 
an ice factory, a wool scouring plant, many churches, nu- 
merous and ever being added to wholesale and retail houses, 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 153 

and tributary and extensive stock yards. The climate is noted 
for its healing etfect in pulmonary affections, and every year 
sees an added influx of health seekers. 

Hagerman 

is the second largest settlement and was laid out in 
1843 by the Pecos Valley Town Company, in Chaves county, 
and was fittingly named in honor of J. X Hagerman of Colo- 
rado Springs, whose enterprise, sagacity and capital were the 
origin of the present great development. It is situated twen- 
tv-four miles southeast of Roswell, and is surrounded by thou- 
sands of acres of the choicest agricultural, fruit and grazmg 
land in the country. It has a population, with its immediate 
surroundings, of about 800, and the intelhgence, thrift and 
morals of its people are plentifully attested by fine brick busi- 
ness houses, attractive and commodious homes, schools and 
churches, careful observance of approved sanitary principles 
and a general air of neatness and good order. The town and 
country adjacent have been settled by progressive and ener- 
getic people, chiefly from Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Kan- 
sas and their wisely directed efforts have already transformed 
the'barren waste of ten years ago into a veritable garden spot 
that blooms like a rose. With the magic touch of water the 
careful cultivation has achieved wonders here. The magni- 
ficent irrigation system constructed by the Pecos Irrigation 
Company extends from a point four and one-half miles due 
east of Roswell thirty miles ^outh and irrigates the fine 
body of land tributary to the town of Hagerman and is now 
<iontrolled by the Fehx Irrigation Company. The water sup- 
ply thus afforded has been increased by the development of 
artesian water in many places. Many small farms are plen- 
tifully watered from these never falling wells, and much of 
the supply in the canals is conserved for use on large tracts 
further down the valley. The value of these wells will be un- 
derstood by readers unfamiliar with the facts when it is ex- 
plained that a well flowing 100 gallons a minute, if m)ne were 
lost by seepage or evaporation, would cover seventy-eight and 
one-half acres to a depth of twenty-four inches in a year. 
Allowing one-half for loss by evaporation in reservoirs and 
ditches, a 400 gallon well will then furnish twenty-four inches 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 155 

for a quarter section during the year. Considering tliat 
twenty inches of rainfall is sufficient for a crop, when much 
of it comes out of season and often in injurious excess, it will 
readily be understood that twenty-four inches stored in reser- 
voirs and apphed only when needed is ample. This is not 
theory. It has been clearly demonstrated in actual practice 
at both Roswell and Hagerman. 

Colfax County. 

Nature has abundantly blessed Colfax county and man is 
doing his best to make it the richest section of the southwest. 
The area is 3,897 square miles, it being one of the smaller coun- 
ties of the Territory. Still, it is twice as large as the State 
of Delaware. The population is 12,000, assessed valuation in 
1903, $2,881,411. The post offices are: Aurora, Baldy, Bell, 
Black Lake, Blossburg, Catskill, Chico, Cimarron, Colmor, 
Dawson, Dorsey, Elizabethtown, Gardiner, Hebron, Lynn, 
Maxwell City, Osha, Ponil, Raton, Rayado, Springer, Van 
Houten, Vermejo and Willow. The county is rich in mineral, 
agricultural and stock resources. Coal, gold, iron, graphite, 
cement and gypsum are among its mineral products, 
not to speak of oil indications. About 600,000 acres are still 
subject to entry under the land laws. The Maxwell Land 
Grant Company, which at one time owned more than one-half 
the area comprised in the county and has done much for its 
development, still has on the market thousands of acres 
which it sells to home seekers upon very hberal terms. The 
western part is mountainous and here are located the Eliza- 
bethtown, Moreno, Cimarron and Baldy mining districts, 
which have produced gold to the value of several milhon dol- 
lars. Here also rise the Vermejo, Cimarron, Sweetwater, 
Ponil, Rayado, Chico, Moreno and Ocate rivers, which furnish 
irrigation waters for a large agricultural area. There are 
many fine reservoirs sites, and the Maxwell Land Grant Com- 
pany has constructed several irrigation systems excelled only 
by those of the lower Pecos valley. The principal of these are 
the Cimarron or Springer system, which takes up the drain- 
age of thirty miles of the majestic Taos range, and the Ver- 
mejo system, along which there are twenty reservoirs. The 
climate is tine and the altitude which ranges from 5,000 to 




CIMARRON CANON, COLFAX COUNTY. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 157 

12,000 feet, offers invariably cool nights and cool summers, a 
dry, rarefied atmosphere and protection from the north and 
west winds. The principal agricultural sections are the val- 
ley of the Sweetwater, the Rayado, the Cimarroncito, the Ci- 
marron, the Ponil, the Vermejo, the Red River, the Una de 
Gato, the Chico, the Moreno and the Piedra, the Vermejo 
Park', the Black Lake section and Johnson and Barela mesas, 
on which last two named, crops are raised without irrigation. 
Wheat, potatoes, beets, cabbages, carrots, parsnips, turnips, 
artichokes, celery and other staple crops are produced. The 
region around Springer is especially adapted to the cultiva- 
tion of the sugar beet. The Springer, Mills, Dawson, Chase 
and other large ranches are famous for their fruit and alfalfa 
crops. Apples, peaches, pears and plums are the leading orch- 
ard products. The county is very favorably located for stock 
raising. The mild winters, the cheap range and the cheap- 
ness of the grazing privileges on the Maxwell grant, as well 
as a good deal of water and of shelter, make it a fine stock 
section. Timber is also a source of wealth, but only in the 
western part. On the slopes of the Raton and the Taos ranges 
there are 500,000 acres of merchantable timber, principally 
yellow pine and cedar. Near Elizabethtown are the Moreno 
placers which produce more gold annually than any mine or 
other placer in New Mexico. There are also a large number 
of well developed lode mines carrying gold, copper, silver and 
other minerals, their distance from the railroad, however, 
restricting their production. It is in its coal fields that the 
county has its greatest source of wealth. Over half a million 
tons are produced annually by the coal mines at Dawson and 
Van Houten, while there are developed coal mines at Bloss- 
burg, Gardiner, Raton and Johnson's mesas. The Santa Fe 
Railway cuts through the country from north to south and the 
Dawson Railway enters its southeastern corner and runs 
northwest to its present terminus at Dawson. The county has 
good wagon roads. It is a leader in education and every settle- 
ment has its school house and church. The county seat and 
fourth largest city in New Mexico is 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 159 



Raton. 



It is one of the most prosperous and progressive cities in 
the southwest. The last census gave it a population of 3,450, 
but with its suburbs it now has 8,000 people, and is adding to 
its population at the ratio of ten per cent per year. It is called 
the Gate City of New Mexico. In ten years from 1890 to 1900 
it increased its population 200 per cent. It is situated in the 
shadow of the Raton mountains and is in the center of the 
finest coal belt in the southwest, surrounded by prosperous 
stock ranges, and has tributary to it a wide agricultural sec- 
tion. It IS also in a promising oil field, and an important divi- 
sion point on the Atchison, Topekaand Santa Fe Railway, the 
company maintaining extensive shops there. Over $50,000 a 
month are distributed by the railroad company at this point. 
The trade of the surrounding coal camps is transacted at the 
Gate City, which means a monthly pay roll of $40,000 in and 
about the city. The commercial lines are well represented, 
and a considerable wholesale business is done. The tow^n has 
an excellent gravity water system, the water being taken from 
the Chico Rico, a pure, purling mountain stream. The water 
is piped from a reservoir of 52,500,000 gallons capacity, 500 
feet above and six miles from the city. Raton has a good fire 
department and two of the finest school buildings in the 
southwest. The streets are well graded and lighted by elec- 
tricity, and the recently constructed court house is very hand- 
some. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway has re- 
cently completed a $50,000 depot. The city has two national 
banks, long distance telephone with Colorado points, cheap 
coal, lumber and building material and a Building and Loan 
Association. It has a number of beautiful church buildings, 
representing several Protestant denominations and the Re- 
man Catholic faith. The Territory is building a hospital for 
miners in the city. 

Four weekly papers are published, The Range, The Re- 
porter, The Gazette and El Relampago. The elevation is 6,668 
feet. The city attracts many healthseekers who find here a 
superior climate and comfortable accommodations. 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINK. 161 

Springer, 

the county seat of Colfax county, before the honor was be- 
stowed upon Raton, is second in importance, although only 
fifth in population in the county, the census crediting it with 
558 people. Bat Springer is growing since the recent com- 
pletion of the Dawson Railway which passes near the town. 
It is the center of a fine stock and agricultural section and 
there are oil and coal indications in its vicinity. Cement rock 
and gypsum beds are located a few miles from that town. Its 
elevation is 5,769 feet. Ifc is an important shipping point on the 
Santa Fe Railway and controls the trade of a large extent of 
country. Near Springer is an artesian well pouring out min- 
eral water. The town is the trade center for the Elizabeth- 
town, Ute Creek and Cimarron mining districts, and maintains 
a daily stage line to these points. It is near the irrigation sys- 
tems of the Maxwell Land Grant Company. The Weekly Col- 
fax County Stockman is published here. The town has a good 
school system and several churches. The Colorado Telephone 
Company has extended its long distance telephone line from 
Raton to Las Vegas via Springer and other towns along the 
Santa Fe Railway, thus bettering communication. 

Dona Ana County. 

The garden of New Mexico, whose climate in winter ap- 
proaches that of Egypt in its mildness, has an area of 3,818 
square miles, or twice that of the State of Delaware. As- 
sessed valuation in 1903, $2,189,899. , Population 13,000. Of 
its area about one-half is still subject to entry under the pub- 
lic land laws. Dona Ana county lies almost wholly in the basin 
of the Rio Grande which flows through it in a southeasterly 
direction for 100 miles, carrying enough water if properly 
stored and distributed, to make it a renowned granary and 
vineyard. At its northwest boundary are the Goodnight, 
Magdalena and Caballo ranges, protecting it on the west and 
on the north, while the San Andreas and Organ mountains 
pass through its eastern portion in a grand and majestic series 
of peaks, abounding in mineral riches. The best known re- 
gion is the Mesilla Valley, lymg at an altitude of 3,800 feet. 
The widest scope of cultivation surrounds the towns of Las 
Cruces, Mesilla Park, Dona Ana, Chamberino and La Mesa. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 163 

This part of the valley is from seven to ten miles in width, and 
its soil is very fertile. Orchards come into bearing the second 
year after planting and saplings develop into trees with rapid- 
ity. Its peaches and grapes have carried its fame far and wide. 
Pears, plums, apples, apricots, nectarines, almonds, pecans, 
English walnuts and semi-tropical fruits and vegetables are 
growm. There is a cannery at Las Cruces and wine and 
brandies are manufactured. There are six flour mills in the 
county. About 60,000 acres are under ditch although only 
two-thirds of this area is under cultivation. In the valley 
there is a tremendous underflow from the Rio Grande which 
makes water available by pumping. The national government 
is also planning to construct an irrigation system by damming 
the Rio Grande at the Elephant Buttes which would furnish 
abundant water to reclaim the entire valley, and will build a 
diverting dam in the Rio Grande at Penasco Rock, eighteen 
miles north of Las Cruces. Cultivated land in the vicinity of 
Las Cruces may be purchased at from $20 to $50 per acre. 
There are satisfactory railroad facilities, the mileage being 
160. The Santa Fe Railway crosses it from the northwest to 
the southeast, the Southern Pacific in the southern part from 
east to northwest and the El Paso and Southwestern along the 
southern boundary from east to west. The county has 3,000,- 
000 acres of range which furnish pasture the year around for 
cattle, sheep, goats and horses. In the Organ and San An- 
dreas mountains there are successful goat ranches. There 
are several mining camps, that at Organ having produced con- 
siderable gold, silver and copper. In the San Andreas and 
Black mountains, the mineral indications are very promising 
and considerable prospecting and development work has been 
done. The post oflices are : Anthony, Berino, Chamberino, 
Doiia Ana, Earlham, Garfield, Hatch, Las Cruces, Mesilla, Me- 
silla Park, Modoc, Organ, Rincon, Rodey and Victorio. The 
county seat and largest town is 

Las Cruces, 

the City of the Crosses, beautifully situated on the eastern 
edge of the far-famed Mesilla Valley and in the midst of the 
largest body of cultivated land within the Territory. This 
valley has an verage width of about five miles and is seventy 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE, 165 

miles in length, embracing 100,000 acres of the rich alluvial 
soil of the Rio Grande. However, only a comparatively 
small.portion of the valley is under cultivation, perhaps 30,000 
acres in all. Of course, all cultivation is by irrigation. For 
this purpose the Rio Grande furnishes an abundance of water 
usually, but in late years there have been occasional drouths 
for brief periods; but the farmers and orchardists have with- 
in the last few years learned that there is an inexhaustible 
fioW' of water under the surface of the ground at a depth of 
about twenty-five feet and that it is perfectly feasible and pro- 
fitable to utilize this underground flow to supplement the 
river in times of scarcity. Consequently a number of pump- 
ing plants have been erected in different parts of the valley 
and are now in use whenever required. When it is considered 
what has been accomplished in California by the use of water 
raised by means of pumps for irrigation, the advantages of 
the valley in this respect may be partially realized. The town 
of Las Cruces was laid out in the year 1^48, at the close of the 
Mexican war, by American officers from the post then exist- 
ing at Fort Selden, eighteen miles above the town. Before 
that time the valley had been the habitat of the Apache In- 
dians, w4io were so numerous and fierce that no one dared to 
settle at points in the valley outside of the little hamlet, six 
miles above the town, and the lands of the valley were totally 
unutilized. But with the protection which came with the 
American occupation, settlers rapidly came, and the valley now 
has a population of approximately 10,000 people. Las Cruces is 
the largest town in the valley. The census of 1900 gave the two 
precincts in which the town is located a population of 2,906. 
The town proper has at present a population of 3,000. The 
other settlements in the valley, almost contiguous to^ the town 
are Mesilla Park, Mesilla, Colorado, Rincon, La Mesa, San 
Miguel, Chamberino, Garfield and Anthony. The town is 
regularly and symmetrically laid out, and in parts well 
shaded. It has an altitude of about 3,800 feet. The altitude, 
combined with the latitude, renders the winter months the 
most delightful in the world, while the heat of the summer is 
tempered and cooled with the rains which come about the 
first of June and extend into the fall. The town has a solid 
and substantial basis for its prosperity. It is essentially an 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 167 

agricultural town, dependent in the main upon the prosperity 
of the neighboring farms and orchards for its welfare. There 
are about twenty general merchandise stores and the usual 
assortment of drug stores, banks, hotels, restaurants, saloons 
and offices of professional men. A few miles to the east are 
the beautiful Organ mountains where gold, silver, copper and 
lead ores have been and are being mined profitably, contribut- 
ing to the prosperity of all classes in the to^-n. There are also 
on the neighboring ranges many cattle, sheep and goat 
ranches, which are in a healthy condition. Within two miles 
of the town is the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts 
and the Agricultural Experiment Station. These are institu- 
tions endowed liberally by the national government and the 
Territory, and under their supervision. They are largely 
patronized by students from all parts of the Territory, from 
the neighboring sections of Texas and Mexico, and receive 
some students from almost every state in the Union, who 
come for the sake of the opportunity afforded to acquire a 
knowledge of the Spanish language and Spanish stenography. 
The town, too, has in late years become the Mecca of an ever- 
increasing class of persons afflicted with lung and throat 
troubles. These unfortunates have found in the mild winters 
and dry atmosphere the exact conditions necessary to restore 
them to health. Some of them make it a practice to come 
every fall and winter, while others purchase ranches, 
farms and orchards, and settle down into permanent res- 
idents. The "Alameda'' is a resort built and managed ex- 
clusively for the benefit of this class of sufferers. Las Cruces 
is the seat of the United States district court and of a 
United States land office. Besides the College, the town has 
two graded and well managed public schools and two private 
schools. The Sisters of Loretto, a Cathohc order, maintain 
an educational institute. The Roman Cathohcs and several 
of the leading Protestant denominations have church or- 
ganizations. Two Enghsh weekly papers, the Citizen and 
the Rio Grande Repubhcan, are pubhshed at Las Cruces, 
and two Spanish weeklies. El Labrador and El Tiempo. At the 
College a monthly is published. The fraternal orders are well 
represented, the Masons, Woodmen, Odd Fellows and others 
having lodges. The town also has a thriving Chamber of Com- 





VIEWS IN THE MESILLA VALLEY. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 169 

merce, which is doing much in making the advantages of the 
town and valley known to the outside world. A canning factory 
enjoys an extensive patronage, and the demand for its pro- 
ducts is greater than can be supplied, and there is an opening 
for other industries. 

Eddy County. 

Area 6,505 square miles; population 6,500; assessed valua- 
tion in 1903, $1,937,914. The county is the Riviera of New 
Mexico. It is the garden spot of the Lower Pecos Valley 
which extends north and south 120 miles and east and west 
between the foothills from five to thirty miles. It is the most 
southeastern and the lowest in altitude of New Mexico coun- 
ties. It is almost as large as the State of New Jersey and of 
its area 3,600,000 acres are subject to entry under the land 
laws of the United States. The Pecos river flows through the 
eastern half from north to south and from the west receives 
a number of tributaries, several of which carry a considerable 
volume of water, as they drain the entire eastern slope of the 
Guadalupe mountains. With the exception of Westwater, on 
the w^estern boundary, and Monument, near the eastern boun- 
dary, all the settlements are located in the Pecos Valley, the 
post offices being Artesia, Carlsbad, Dayton, Florence, Hope, 
Knowles, McMillan, Malaga, Monument, Stegman and West- 
water. 

The average summer temperature is eighty degrees above 
zero and the average winter temperature is fifty-five degrees 
above zero. The county has the finest irrigation system in 
the United States, formed by the damming of the Pecos river. 
Sufficient water is always available to irrigate 200,000 acres 
of land but only a comparatively small portion of this is thus 
far under cultivation, something hke 10,000 acres. On this 
■are raised large crops of alfalfa and peaches, although corn, 
sorghum, cotton, fruits and vegetables are also staple crops. 
In the northern part, especially at Artesia, artesian water has 
been developed. Outside of the Pecos Valley, stock raising 
is the principal, in fact, it is the leading industry. For every 
■acre under cultivation there are more than 800 acres of graz- 
ing land. An abundance of water is being developed on the 
range and is lifted from wells by wind mills. The Pecos Val- 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 171 

ley and its vicinity present today more inducements for the 
breeding of fine cattle than any other district in the south- 
west. Owing to the abundance of water for irrigation pur- 
poses, it is able to furnish feed for thousands of thoroughbred 
cattle for the building up of the surrounding stock ranches. 
Not only cattle but sheep and goats do exceptionally well. 
In the Guadalupe mountains, the Angora goat finds superior 
range and home, while 200,000 head of sheep of well graded 
Merino and Shropshire strains occupy the range. Bee cul- 
ture can be made a profitable industry here. Around Carls- 
bad and south and west of that town, are oil indications while 
prospecting for mineral in the Guadalupe mountains has re- 
vealed large ore deposits, principally copper. Railroad faci- 
lities are furnished by the Pecos Valley and Northeastern 
Railway, which follows the Pecos Valley and is a part of the 
Santa Fe system. There are excellent oil indications south 
and north of Carlsbad and copper prospects have been devel- 
oped in the Guadalupe mountains. The county seat is 

Carlsbad. 

It is often declared to be one of the most beautiful towns in 
New Mexico and it is certainly entrancingly situated amidst 
orchards and broad cultivated fields. Ever running waters 
in its irrigation ditches, its thirty-five miles of cottonwood 
and other shade trees, its wide streets and beautiful homes, 
all help to make it an attractive residence city. The suburbs 
of La Huerta and Hagerman Heights are far famed. The Ber- 
muda and the blue grass furnish pretty emerald lawn set- 
tings. The ornamental shade trees include the Catalpa, the 
Chinese umbrella, North Carolina and Lombardy poplar, 
weeping willows, Russian mulberry, while encircling hedges 
of gray cedar bush and the green bamboo cane are ever and 
anon broken by the shining spike of the giant cactus palm or 
Spanish dagger. Here and there can be seen roses of all hues 
and sizes, blooming almost every month in the year, gera- 
niums of fifteen and twenty varieties blooming in aU the soft 
gradations of color from pure white to the deepest crimson 
and royal purple, and many other flowers in profusion. The 
arboriculture of Eddy county includes the walnut, the almond 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 173 

and the pecan, a flourishing grove of the latter in La Huerta 
growing more valuable every year. 

The altitude is 3,000 feet. It is 1,326 miles from Chicago, 
868 miles from Kansas City and 1,083 miles from Denver. 
With immediate surroundings it has a population of 2,000. Its 
public schools are up to date and housed in modern buildings. 
There are 500 chidren of school age in the city, and nearly all 
are enrolled in the public schools. There are churches of 
many denominations, a line opera house, commodious business 
blocks, a $35,000 courthouse, electric hght, telephone, water 
and sewerage systems, graded and well kept streets and 
three weekly newspapers, the Carlsbad Argus, the Current 
and the Pecos Valley Stockman. The town is a modern and 
model American community with healthy business conditions, 
and a promise of a great prosperity in the future. 

Carlsbad is considered one of the leading towns of New 
Mexico. It is the headquarters of the Pecos Irrigation Com- 
pany, whose irrigation system is one of the wonders of the 
whole country. Near the town are mineral springs whose 
waters resemble those of Carlsbad, Europe, and near which 
a sanitarium is to be built next year. The town is on thB 
Pecos Valley and Northeastern Railway which built a pretty 
brick depot recenty at Carlsbad. 

Artesia. 

The discovery of artesian water in northern Eddy County 
has resulted in the founding of the flourishing town of Ar- 
tesia, on the P. V. & N. E. Ry., which already boasts of a bank, 
a weekly newspaper, the Artesia Advocate, and a number of 
business houses. Its population is nearing the one thousand 
mark and the town is growing rapidly, every quarter section 
for miles around having been taken up by settle ts. 

Grant County. 
This county is not only by far the heaviest mineral producer 
but it is also one of the leading stock counties of New Mexico. 
Its area is 7,432 square miles; its population 12,500; its as- 
sessed valuation in 1903 was $2,912,977; its annual mineral pro- 
duction $1,500,000; assessed valuation of its cattle $1,000,000, 
the actual value being fully three times as much. The post 
offices are : Bayard, Central, Cliff, Dwyer, Fay wood, Fierro, 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 175 

Fort Bayard, Georgetown, Goldhill, Hachita, Hanover, Lords- 
burg, Mimbres, Pinos Altos, Red Rock, Rodeo, Santa Rita, 
Separ, Sherman, Silver City, Steeple Rock, Stein's Pass, 
Swartz, Teel and Whitewater. 

The county has good railroad facilities. It is crossed in the 
southern part by the Southern Pacific Railroad and the El 
Paso and Southwestern Railway. In addition the Santa Fe 
Railway enters it and has two branches, one from White- 
water to Santa Rita and the other from Hanover Junction to 
Fierro. The Lordsburg Hachita Railway is entirely within 
the county and the Arizona and New Mexico Railroad has its 
terminus at Lordsburg. 

The county's area is equal to that of the State of New Jer- 
sey and 4,000,000 acres are still subject to entry under 
the land laws. The diversity of its industries has made this 
county one of the best and most prosperous. In its north- 
western part the Gila, and in its eastern portion the Mimbres, 
furnish water for irrigation and there are about 150,000 acres 
adapted to agriculture that can be reclaimed but less than 
10,000 acres are under cultivation. All the orchard products, 
grains and vegetables do well in the county. The Mimbres 
Valley produces especially fine apples. In addition to cattle, 
sheep, goats and hogs are raised and yield good profits. The 
county is very mountainous although none of the peaks attain 
a great altitude. In these mountain ranges are valuable depo- 
sits of copper, iron, gold, silver, zinc and turquoise. Many of 
the mines are extensively developed and a few have been 
worked for over a century. Last year almost a million dollars 
worth of copper was produced and about 150,000 tons of iron 
ore were shipped from its mining districts. Several reduc- 
tion works and mills are in operation. The principal mining 
camps are Hanover, Santa Rita, Fierro, Central, Gold Gulch, 
Pinos Altos, Burros, Red Rock, Steeple Rock, Stein's Pass, 
Lordsburg and Shakespeare. There are located in this county 
several hot and mineral springs, the best known being at Fay- 
wood, where a commodious hotel has been built. The south- 
ern part of the Gila forest reserve covers the northwestern 
part and from Silver City starts the principal road into the 
reserve and to the Mogollon and Cooney mining districts. The 
county has a fine public school system. The county seat is 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 177 

Silver City. 

Its location, protected on all sides by high hills, its dry 
atmosphere, and its almost constant sunshine, render this 
town a pretty and healthy residence place. Nine miles east 
of Silver City is Fort Bayard, where the United States 
government has located the Army general hospital for the 
treatment of tuberculosis. The government having put its 
stamp of approval, after careful investigation, upon this cli- 
mate for the cure of its soldiers and sailors, many other health 
seekers of late have been attracted to Silver City and sur- 
roundings. The census of 1900 gave Silver City a population 
of 2,735 and Silver City precinct a population of 2,971 persons. 
The present population is 3,000. It is a well built town of brick 
business blocks and many nice brick residences. It has a 
good supply of w^ater, both for domestic use and for fire pro- 
tection. Its merchants are modern and progressive and heavy 
stocks of goods are carried because the city supplies a large 
area of prosperous country. Two weekly newspapers are 
published. The Enterprise and The Independent. The public 
school system is very good, and there is also located here one 
of the Territorial normal schools, with a competent corps of 
teachers. Another educational institution that does very good 
work is the Academy of Our Lady of Lourdes for girls. The 
city has an electric light plant and a telephone system that 
reaches out to all the important towns and mining camps sur- 
rounding it. There are several substantial church buildings 
of various denominations. There is one national bank and one 
savings bank here. There are also good hotels. The city had 
two smelters built during the present year. The industries 
of the surrounding country are stock raising and mining. 
Twelve miles to the south is the Burro mountain mining dis- 
trict containing principally copper ores and having a smelter, 
and also producing much of the turquoise sold in the United 
States. Nine miles north is located Pinos Altos, one of the 
oldest gold mining camps of the Territory. Nine miles east 
are Fort Bayard and the town of Central, while sixteen miles 
east are located the mining camps of Santa Rita, Hanover and 
Fierro, in the center of big copper and iron ore deposits. 
The climate of this section makes it practicable to carry on 
mining every day in the year, both on top and underground. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 179 

St. Joseph's sanitarium undej* the care and direction of the 
Sisters of Mercy, is situated on a high elevation in the west- 
ern part of the town, and consists of two large brick build- 
ings, containing about thirty rooms. There is also located 
here a county hospital. 

Lordsburg 

i^ situated at the junction of the Southern Pacific, the Arizona 
and New Mexico, and the Lordsburg and Hachita Railroads. 
With surroundings it now has a population of about 1,200. The 
town was founded when the Southern Pacific Railroad was 
built through southern New Mexico, and was made a division 
point by the railroad. It has a large round house, machine 
shops, an extensive yard of side tracks, coal bunkers, and two 
large oil tanks with a capacity of more than 3,000,000 gallons, 
as the Southern Pacific is using oil in most of its engines. 
There are several business houses, two of which do a jobbing 
trade. The town has an electric light and ice plant. There 
are three churches and a good public school building, and one 
weekly newspaper, the Western Liberal. 

Leonard Wood County. 

Area 3,952 square miles; population 10,000; assessed valua- 
tion in 1903, $923,017. Post offices : Anton Chico, Casaus, 
Colonias, Conant, Cuervo, Fort Sumner, Guadalupe, Pastura, 
Pintada, Puerto de Luna, Salado and Santa Rosa. 

The county is rapidly developing. Four years ago it did not 
contain a mile of railroad, telegraph or telephone line. It was 
practically isolated from the world and even from its neigh- 
boring counties. But since then the Rock Island and El Paso 
and the El Paso and Northeastern Railways have built into 
the county forming a junction at Santa Rosa and are part 
of the Rock Island line of the California system. With the 
railroads have come the telegraph, new towns, new settlers 
and new life. It is first of all a stock country. This year it 
produced 3,000,000 joounds of wool and the sheep on its ranges 
are estimated at 600,000. Some of the higher grade wools pro- 
duced in New Mexico come from this county, the bulk being 
of Delaine-Merino mixture. Cattle raising is also an import- 
ant business. About 10,000 Shetland ponies and about 10,000 
goats are included in the wealth of the county. In the eastern 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 181 

part are found many springs. Fully 2,000,000 acres are still 
subject to entry under the public land laws and the public 
range therefore is extensive. The Pecos river cuts through 
from northwest to southeast and in its valley are fertile agri- 
cultural lands. The northwestern portion is in the drainage 
of the Canadian. There are no modern or extensive irrigation 
systems. 

The crops raised are alfalfa, fruit, vegetables and cereals. 
There are no developed mines but indications of gold and cop- 
per ores exist and oil rock is quite prevalent, covering a large 
area around Santa Rosa. Large deposits of good building 
stone and some pine and cedar timber are found. The county 
will always be a tine stock country, for it possesses vast 
stretches of grazing lands that are not likely to be invaded by 
the farmer, miner or factory hand. But it also has some 
good farming possibilities. The soil is very fertile and the 
building of storage reservoirs or the development of water 
by means of wind mills, gasoline engines or other power, will 
ultimately place large tracts under cultivation. The county 
seat is 

Santa Rosa, 

which consists of an old and a new town, the latter having 
been laid out by the Alamogordo Improvement Company 
since the advent of the Rock Island. Five hundred acres are 
embraced in the townsite, which is picturesquely situated on 
the Pecos river, and platted around a plaza, one side of the 
plaza being reserved for a modern hotel. The handsome Rock 
Island passenger depot faces the plaza, while the commodious 
freight depot is close at hand. It is a prosperous and growing 
railroad, trade and stock center, wnth a population of 1,200. 
It has two weekly newspapers, The Santa Rosa Star and the 
La Voz Publica, a bank, several churches, a good public school, 
railroad shops and round houses. The new town is situated 
at an elevation of 4,600 feet. The surrounding country, with 
the exception of the valleys along the river, is prairie and de- 
voted to cattle and sheep raising. Along the valley splendid 
fruit, grain and vegetables can be grown with the aid of irri- 
gation. The water in the Pecos river from the Santa Rosa 
crossing south is alkali, while 100 yards above the crossing it 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 183 

is fairly good. The alkaline character of the water below is 
caused by gypsum and alkali springs flowing into the river. 
A remarkable example of the well and wind mill method of 
irrigation now exists in the county. It is the Sumner ranch, 
eight miles north of Santa Rosa. When one rounds the point 
of a barren range of rocky hills and gets a glimpse of this fer- 
tile farm, one is tempted to believe that a portion of the rich 
agricultural section of Iowa has been transported to this 
sandy plain. The owners of the Sumner ranch are pioneers, 
and their success is likely to be followed up by many new 
comers. With a tributary territory, such as seems likely to 
spring up within the next few years, Santa Rosa would be 
prosperous if all other resources were removed. It is the 
division headquarters of the Rock Island and the El Paso 
Railroad. It is here also that the El Paso and Rock Island 
division of the El Paso and Northeastern Railway starts. 
Santa Rosa is sheltered by hills on both sides. It is subject 
to but few of the wind storms so likely to spring up at any 
time in the less protected uplands which make up the greater 
part of the county. The country surrounding is not without its 
scenic attractions and the climate is good. Santa Rosa sand- 
stone quarries are already well known. In addition to its 
profuse local use, the superb sandstone, including solid red, 
white and gray colors and variegated hues, will develop a ship- 
ping industry of wide radius and profitable returns. 

Lincoln County. 

Area 4,594 square miles; population 10,000; assessed valua- 
tion in 1903, $1,275,347. It is one of the oldest counties and 
out of its original area have been cut all the other southeast- 
ern counties. It is in late years, however, that it is seeing its 
greatest development through the extension of the El Paso 
and Northeastern Railway through its western part and the 
development of the coal fields at Capitan, Its post oftices are : 
Alto, Analla, Ancho, Angus, Arabela, Bonito, Capitan, Cari- 
zozo, Coalora, Corona, Port Stanton, Glencoe, Hond<^, Jicarilla, 
Lincoln, Meek, Nogal, Oscuro, Parsons, Picacho, Richardson, 
Ruidoso, San Patricio, Torrance and White Oaks. 

Comprising an area larger than that of the State of Connec- 
ticut, Lincoln county still has 2,200,000 acres subject to entry 






WHITE OAKS, LINCOLN COUNTY, HOMES. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. l^^ 



under the United States land laws. It lies within the drain- 
age area of the Pecos river, although only the headwaters of 
several of its tributaries are within its hues. The Rio 
Hondo, one of these tributaries, is the largest stream and has 
as its tributaries, streams of clear, cool water known as the 
Bonito, the Eagle, the Little Eagle and Ruidoso creeks. The 
headwaters of the Rio Felix and the Rio Salado are also m the 
county Nogal creek and a number of independent water 
courses on the west side of the White mountains, often dry 
during several months in the year, flow toward the RioGrande. 
Storage reservoirs, to supplement the present primitive 
irrigation systems, would increase the cultivated area to 
lOo'oOO acres, but until new sources of water supply are dis- 
covered the greater part of the county will be given up to 
stoc^i ranges and mining operations. The principal mountain 
rano-es are the Sierra Blanca, rising to an elevation of 1L,5U0 
feet" the Capitan, the Gallinas, Carizo, the Jicarillas, the 
Tecolotes and the Tres Cerros mountains. Climate and soil 
are very suitable for the raising of fruit and grain. The or- 
chards on the Bonito, the Ruidoso and other streams produce 
as fine fruit as can be raised in the United States. Good crops 
of oats, wheat and barley are raised without irrigation on 
some of the mesas soath of Nogal. Even alfalfa is thus grown. 
Wheat yields thirty bushels to the acre, cabbage 30,000 
pounds, beans 4,000 pounds, apples and pears 25,000 pounds 
and grapes 9,000 pounds to the acre. There are in the county 
200,000 sheep, 85,000 cattle, 10,000 goats and 3,000 horses. 
Naturally it is a tine stock country. It is rich in coal as well as 
in the precious and base metals. The coal production of the 
Capitan mines is 100,000 tons a year. There are extensive un- 
developed coal fields and iron ore deposits which presage fut- 
ure industrial prominence. It has produced several mihion 
dollars worth of gold, its principal mining camps being at 
White Oaks, Nogal and Jicarilla. Fine timber covers the moun- 
tain sides and the Lincoln ForestReserve is situated in Lincoln 
County. There are two saw mills, one flour mill and a number 
of reduction and cement works. At Fort Stanton, the United 
States Revenue Marine Hospital Service maintains a sanita- 
rium for consumptives, thus giving convincing ofticial testi- 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 187 

mony to the superiority of the chmate of that part of New 
Mexico. The largest town in the county is 

Capitan, 

which nestles in a spot surrounded on every side by rugged 
hills which rise on one side into the majestic Capitans and ter- 
minate on the other in the snow capped Sierra Blanca, the 
Pike's Peak of New Mexico. These rugged hills rising in 
broken line to meet the blue arch of heaven furnish everchang- 
ing scenery for the eye, as every glance reveals some new 
beauty to them. The ethereal blueness of the sky and the ver- 
dant hills in summer, or the brown and sombre of winter, 
form a contrast of colors more beautiful than ever portra^^ed 
on canvass. Where a little over five years ago stood one house 
and a small store, today there is a town of nearly a thousand 
people, with business houses, comfortable residences and 
everything that goes to make up a busy cit}". Since its set- 
tlement on the 3d day of March, 1899, Capitan has had a rapid 
growth when it is considered that it has grown to its present 
size entirely upon its own merit. The census of 1900 gave the 
precinct in which Capitan is located a population of 670; today 
Capitan and North Capitan, or Coalora, the latter being the 
coal mining town, have a population of 1,200. It is the location 
of the New Mexico Fuel Company's coal mines, where several 
hundred men are employed, and which has a pay roll of nearly 
$10,000 a month. The fertile surrounding valleys produce 
crops of fruit, grain and vegetables, the range keeps thou- 
sands of head of cattle sleek and fat the year round, while the 
mountains contain riches of gold, silver, lead, copper and 
iron. Capitan is situated practically in the geographical cen- 
ter of Lincoln county and can be reached by a direct route 
from all parts of the county. Being thus favorably located , 
it is the supply point for the surrounding country, the head- 
quarters for mining companies operating in that section and 
the trading point for farmers and stockmen. It is also a rail- 
road point, being the terminus of the Capitan branch of the El 
Paso and Northeastern Railway, and freighting point for a 
large territory. Wagon after wagon loaded with hay, grain, 
wool, hides, etc., may be seen coming into the town dail}', 
which return loaded with supplies for Fort Stanton, Lincoln, 






MINING AND OTHER SCENES IN LINCOLN COUNTY. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 189 

Bonito, Ruidoso, Picacho, Hondo and other points. Capitan, 
while progressing rapidly along commercial lines, has not 
neglected to keep fully abreast of the times in educational 
matters. No sooner had the town been established than a 
school district was platted and bonds to the extent of $12,000 
were voted to erect a suitable school building, and as a result 
Capitan today has a fine public school building. It has sev- 
eral churches and a weekly newspaper, the Capitan News. It 
is but a few miles from the sanitarium for consumptives at 
Fort Stanton. 

White Oaks 

is the best known town of Lincoln county, with a population, 
according to the census, of 804. It was located in 1880, and 
its fame rests upon its gold mines, principally the Old Abe 
and North and South Homestake. It is six miles from the El 
Paso and Rock Island Railway and twelve miles from Cari- 
zozo on the El Paso and Northeastern Railway, from where, 
once a day, a stage coach runs to the town. It has three 
churches and a $3,000 school house, with good public schools. 
The elevation is 6,400 feet above the sea level. There are two 
hotels and a planing mill. Good water is secured from nearby 
springs. It is located in a beautiful valley or natural amphi- 
theater in the White Oaks range of mountains, surrounded on 
all sides by high peaks covered with evergreen pine, cedar 
and juniper. While several large cattle, sheep and goat 
ranches are located in its immediate vicinity, from which it 
derives an extensive and profitable trade, the principal 
sources of the town's business, those which induced its estab- 
lishment at this point, are mining operations. Something 
more than twenty-two years ago quartz veins, carrying visi- 
ble gold in large quantities, were discovered in what are now 
known as the North and South Homestake mines, and out of 
these discoveries and the "boom" created thereby, grew the 
necessity for a trade center and White Oaks was the result. 
It is inhabited by an enterprising class of citizens, who be- 
lieve in good schools, churches and respectable society. One 
weekly newspaper, the Outlook, is published here. The busi- 
ness houses would be creditable anywiiere to a town of 1,000 
or 2,000 people. No place can boast of a better climate. 







v« 3aitJ|ll^''^tN$StfvjiK^ ^t 



*^ '<■ 





HOUSES AND DEPOT AT DEMING. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 191 

Luna County. 

This is one of the new counties of tlie Territory having been 
organized in 1901. Its area is 2,946 square miles, population 
4,000, assessed valuation in 1903, $1,502,692. The post offices 
are: Cambray, Columbus, Cooks, Deming, Gage, Hermanas 

and Nutt. 

Four-fifths of the area is still public land. The Mimbres 
river traverses it partly from north to south. There is run- 
ning water along its upper course, but at and south of 
Deming it is an underground river. The county is primarily 
a cattle and mining section, although it has a fine rich soil, 
which can be made to produce abundant crops of all sorts as 
well as fruits of the finest quality through the medium of irri- 
gation. About 5,000 acres are under cultivation, mostly 
along the Mimbres river, although around Deming there are 
small truck gardens irrigated from wells. It has good rail- 
road facilities, the Santa Fe, the Southern Pacific and the El 
Paso and Southwestern passing through, the last named hav- 
ing also a branch hne from Carizilillo to Deming where it forms 
a junction with the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe. The 
total railroad mileage is 257 miles. The mean altitude is 5,000 
feet and excepting Doiia Ana and Eddy, no county in New 
Mexico has a milder climate. The winters are warm and snow 
is rare. The summers are pleasant and the nights are always 
cool. There is no malaria lurking in the dry air and Deming 
and surroundings are favorites with healthseekers. There are 
300 or more days in the year in which there is not a cloud in 
the sky, while about forty-five days are recorded as partly 
cloudy and only twenty days as cloudy. As a cattle country 
Luna county offers superior facilities. The whole county is 
dotted with wind mills as good water is obtained from forty 
to fifty feet beneath the surface. Owing to the mild and 
equable climate and the abundance of water and grass, stock- 
men find it well adapted for breeding purposes. There are 
100,000 head of cattle, all stock that will average up well. 
Poultry and bees should prove very profitable as good markets 
exist. There are four mining districts, Cooks, Florida, Victorio 
and Tres Hermanas, in which are located a number of well de- 
veloped mines, several of which have yielded considerable rev- 





BUSINESS HOUSES AT DEMING. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 193 

enue. In the northwestern part, along the upper Mimbres, 
fine farms are located and good crops of alfalfa, wheat, corn, 
and orchard products are raised. Vegetables are produced 
in great abundance and of the best quahty, including potatoes, 
sweet potatoes, beans, peas, beets, celery, onions, pumpkins, 
squashes, water melons and cantaloupes. The soil in the val- 
ley is a deep rich alluvium and needs only to be irrigated to 
produce heavily. The county seat and largest town is 

Deming. 

It was founded in November, 1H81. The Southern Pacific 
Railway, which was then building towards the Pacific coast, 
had just reached this point and was making preparations for 
the erection of shops, furnishing an incentive for the building 
of a city of tents and shanties on the plains. Six months later 
the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe completed its line to that 
point and formed a junction with the Southern Pacific and as- 
sured to Deming a position of prominence in that part of New^ 
Mexico. During the year 1882 settlers flocked in and several 
substantial buildings were erected. The plains round about 
also began to settle up, especially in spots where water was 
found. These new settlers were engaged in the cattle indus- 
try, and that industry has since then furnished a substantial 
support to the town. Prospectors located claims in the moun- 
tains round about and as a consequence the mining industry, 
too, is contributing to the prosperity of Deming and has 
lielped to make it an important business center. About a 
year after the completion of the railroads above mentioned, a 
branch was built into the mining district surrounding Silver 
City, which was then enjoying a boom. In 1901, work was 
started on the construction of the El Paso and Southwestern 
Railway, the road being completed the year following, giving 
Deming direct railway connection with the great mining re- 
gions of southern Arizona and of Sonora, Mexico, and the 
distinction of being one of the two towns in New Mexico, 
namely Santa Fe and Deming, having three independent rail- 
roads. The town's location is well chosen, standing as it does 
on a broad, level plain at an altitude of about 4,300 feet, and 
surrounded with picturesque mountains. It always enjoys a 
cool, refreshing breeze in summer, tempering the heat of July 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 195 

and August and rendering the nights pleasant, while its 
southern latitude prevents severe cold in winter and assures 
mild, even temperature the year around. From a commercial 
standpoint it is the natural supply point of an extensive region 
furnishing supplies for the cattle ranches for miles to the 
east, west and south, and for the farmers of the Mimbres Val- 
ley to the north, while the people of the mining camps in the 
various parts of Luna and Grant counties to the west and to 
the north come to Deming for their supplies and bo ship their 
ores. The water of Deming is noted for its purity and the 
abundance of the supply, the Mimbres river sinking into the 
gravel about twenty miles north of Deming and running be- 
neath the surface in an inexhaustible stream directly under 
the town. The water is as pure and soft as rain water, thus 
making the town with its excellent railway facilities, a pecu- 
liarly favored spot for manufacturing enterprises. It has a 
pojjulation of about 2,000 and is incorporated under the village 
incorporation act. Merchandising is an important industry, 
there being a number of large, well equipped general stores 
in the town. Next in importance is the shipping of stock, 
about 100,000 head of cattle being shipped annually during 
the early summer months. Another industry bringing large 
returns is traffic in hay. The plains surrounding the town 
furnish thousands of tons of hay, and teams may be seen 
every day during the winter months hauling and loading it 
on the cars for shipment to the mining camps and to the towns 
east and west. A brickyard does a good business, as a 
greater part of the business houses built during the past few 
years are substantial brick structures, which add materially 
to its appearance. There is an ice plant and electric light 
works. The town has two banks. The Adelphi Club is an 
organization of about one hundred business men, which has 
fitted up elegant club rooms and which is doing good work 
for the grow^th of the town. The Deming Hospital is a 
territorial institution, established in 1897. There are two 
weekly newspajjers, the Graphic and the Headlight. The 
public school system is very satisfactory. The present 
public school building is a handsome modern structure. The 
last school enumeration gave 902 persons of school age in the 
town, while the enrollment was 730, and the average daily 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 197 

attendance 500. Deming has a number of thriving church 
organizations. It is a health resort, and the many cures affect- 
ed by its chmate in lung and throat troubles are bringing 
annually more and more health seekers. The average winter 
days consist of crisp, cool mornings and evenings, but balmy 
at noon. Glorious weather to walk in, to drive in, to work in, 
to play in, to sleep in. There are very few days when child- 
ren and invahds may not be out in comfort. The spring and 
fall days are pleasant, an unbroken combination of cool 
breezes and warm sun. Doming is blessed with sunshine. 
pure air and pure water; a combination that gives hfe, routs 
disease, nourishes hope, warms the soul and lifts up the 
heart, and making the city and surroundings an ideal refuge 
for health seekers. 

McKinley County. 

McKinley county was created in 1899. Its area is 6,377 
square miles; population 6,500; assessed valuation in 1903, 
$968,107. Of its area 900,000 acres are still subject to entry. 
Its main wealth is in coal mines, although a small area is under 
cultivation along the headwaters of the Zuni river and Pescado 
creek. There are about 100,000 sheep and 5,000 head of cattle. 
Over half a milhon tons of coal are produced annually, the 
mines being grouped around the county seat of Gallup. The 
Santa Fe Pacific Railroad cuts from east to west for about 
seventy-five miles and a branch road has been built from 
Thoreau into the Zuni mountains timber districts which are 
being exjDloited and add considerably to its business. A north 
and south railroad has been surveyed to be known as the Colo- 
rado and Gulf Railway and is to be built from Durango, Colo- 
rado, to Clifton, Arizona. In the eastern jjart are good copper 
indications, while around Manuelito considerable prospecting 
for oil has been done as the indications are very promising. 
South of Gallup are salt lakes which will ultimately be of com- 
mercial value. A portion of the northern part of the county 
is covered with lava. In the southeastern part are cliff dwel- 
hngs and other prehistoric ruins. Excavations which have 
been made north of Thoreau have brought forth many relics 
which are finding their way to eastern museums. The Chaco 
Canon and the Pueblo Bonito, which are on the San Juan coun- 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 199 

ty boundary line, are visited by many tourists and contain 
some of the best preserved cliff dwellings in New Mexico. 
Part of the large Navajo Indian reservation is in northwestern 
McKinley county. The Navajoes are wealthy in sheep and 
horses and are good workmen who are given employment on 
the railroads and in the sugar beet fields of Colorado. They 
are the finest blanket weavers among Indian tribes and their 
fame as silversmiths has spread far and wide. Part of the res- 
ervation is excellent range country, especially for sheep. Rich 
mineral indications, especially copper, also exist. In the south- 
ern part is the Zuni Indian reservation, the principal pueblo, 
Zuni, being one of the Seven Cities of Cibola and one of the 
most ancient and interesting pueblos in the southwest, whose 
annual dances attract more and more tourists every year. The 
government is building a $250,000 reservoir and irrigation sys- 
tem for the Zunis who are husbandmen, their principal crops 
being Indian corn, beans, onions, melons and squashes. This 
system when completed will irrigate 6,000 acres of land. 
Many of the Zunis have small orchards of peach, apricot, 
apple, cherry and plum trees and grape vines. The majority 
of them have from ten to twenty acres under cultivation, while 
some as high as thirty tt) forty acres. The area of the reserve 
is 427 square miles and its population is 1,525. Just east of 
the Zuni Indian reserve is the Mormon agricultural settle- 
ment of Ramah on Pescado creek. Fort Wingate and its 
military reservation are fifteen miles southeast of Gallup. It 
is the only military post in New Mexico occupied at present- 
The following are the post offices: Blackrock, Clarkville, 
Fort Wingate, Gallup, Gibson, Guam, Manuelito, Ramah, 
Thoreau, Tohatchi and Zuni. The county seat is 

Gallup, 

on the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad. Gallup has at present a 
population of 2,500 people, including the families in the coal 
camps of the various companies at short distances from the 
city limits. As many other western towns, Gallup possesses a 
notable contingent of thrifty, brainy Scotch, English and 
Irish folk, who have added very materially to the rapid 
growth and solid development of the community. The climate 
is dry, fairly equable, and with few disagreeable features. The 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 201 

high altitude prevents excessive heat. The town has ample 
religious and educational facilities. The pubhc school system 
is very creditable. Thirty Indian trading stores on the reser- 
vation get their supplies from Gallup merchants or by the 
w^ay of Gallup. The McKinley County Republican is the only 
newspaper, being published weekly. 

Gallup is above all, a coal mining town and its coal industry 
is practically thus far only partly developed. Underneath the 
large region of which Gallup is the center, immense deposits 
of coal have been treasured by nature, awaiting the thrifty 
hand of capital to bring them up to the surface and make of 
Gallup one of the richest coal uiining towns of the southwest. 
One mine alone, property of the Colorado Fuel and Iron 
Company, produced in one day (June 22, 1903), 1,550 tons of 
coal. The coal can be dug easily and there is practically no 
danger for the miner in the mines unless he should be exceed- 
ingly careless. No gas is to be feared. The coal is soft and of 
the best quality. The coal trade would naturally give the town 
a steady growth, but it is only one of the resources. Lying 
north is a field rich in oil bearing sand and shale, samples of 
which experts in Pennsylvania oil fields have pronounced to 
be very rich in crude oil (kerosene). A vein of fire clay, very 
free from iron and nodules, and of excellent quality, underlies 
the whole region, small and steady orders therefore being 
supplied to Arizona smelters. Pottery clay, brick clay, 
valuable sands, copper ore and other natural resources 
are found in the neighborhood. The greatest of all 
resources, however, lie above ground. The town is situated 
on the Puerco river. The whole valley is filled for miles with 
rich soil, needing only water to make it one great, rich farm. 
Nature has kindly made a reservoir site four miles above the 
town, which drains an immense watershed that would supply 
sutticient water for the irrigation of the whole valley. Only a 
moderate amount of capital is needed to dam safely this site 
and to set going agricultural life that would make Gallup a 
much larger city and also give handsome returns for the 
money invested. The city is lighted by electricity, has water- 
works, a telephone system and commands a good trade. It 
has broad, clean streets and many of its buildings are of brick 
and stone. It has telephone connection with Fort Wingate. 




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IN THE MORA VALLEY. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 203 

It has a large round house and is a division point on the Santa 
Fe Pacific Railroad. 

Mora County. 

Area 2,542 square miles; population 13,000; assessed valua- 
tion in 1903 $1,175,823. Post offices: Chacon, Cleveland, 
Guadalupita, Halls Peak, Holman, La Cueva, Ledoux, Lucero, 
Mora, Ocate, Roy, Shoemaker, Wagon Mound, Sauz, Watrous, 
Weber. 

Mora county's agricultural products are its mainstay and 
are not exceeded in value by those of any other New Mexico 
county. It can rightfully claim the honor of being one of the 
leading agricultural counties of the Territory. However, its 
stock interests exceed in value even its agricultural wealth. 
It is one of the four small counties, yet its area is greater 
than that of the State of Delaware, and 760,000 acres, or an 
area greater than that of the State of Rhode Island are still 
subject to entry. The county is mountainous, some of the 
peaks rising to an altitude of 13,500 feet. The hills are 
generally timbered and a portion of the Pecos River Forest 
Reserve is within its limits. From the main Sangre deCristo 
range, broken by foothills and picturesque canons, the mesa 
extends gently sloping toward the southeast. It is almost 
entirely in the drainage area of the Canadian river, although 
the Pecos and the Santa Cruz rivers also rise within its 
boundaries. The Mora, a tributary of the Canadian, furnishes 
the principal supply for irrigation, although the Ocate and the 
headwaters of the Vermejo have a good flow. The irrigation 
systems are primitive excepting three reservoirs and canals 
built at La Cueva. There are many fine reservoir sites, 
however, and instead of 20,000 acres, the present area under 
cultivation, there could easily be three times that extent of 
country under ditch. The county has 35,000 head of cattle, 
150,000 head of sheep and 5,000 goats. The raising and fatten- 
ing of beeves is a growing industry around Wagon Mound, 
Watrous and other settlements. The principal crops are 
wheat, oats, alfalfa, corn, barley, rye, tomatoes and vegetables. 
Horticulture is a very successful pursuit. From the Mora 
Valley 2,000,000 pounds of corn and 300,000 pounds of oats are 
shipped annually. On the La Cueva ranch alone, 2,000 acres 





STREET SCENES IN MORA. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 205 

are under cultivation, all in cereals, alfalfa or fruit trees. The 
following are the principal agricultural valleys : The Mora 
and its extension, the Agua Negra Valley, is twenty-two miles 
long. In its narrowest place it is 400 yards wnde for the 
length of about twelve miles, the other ten miles are from two 
to three miles wide. The Guadalupita Valley is five miles 
long and three miles wide along the Guadalupita and then 
runs ten miles to Lucero, averaging about a quarter of a mile 
in width. The Llano del Coyote Valley is about three miles 
long and one mile broad. The La Cueva Valley, not including 
the 10,000 acres of the La Cueva Ranch Company, has an area 
of about 5,000 acres. The Cherry and Watrous Valleys 
produce alfalfa principally, although a large quantity of grain 
is raised annually, being used mostly in fattening cattle, 
there being about 20,000 head of cattle in these two valleys. 
Besides these valleys, which all have irrigation systems, 
there are the Lower Cebolla, Buena Vista, Carmen, Gascon 
and other small valleys that are very productive. Mora has a 
great resource in the timber on the nearby mountains and 
seven million feet are annually shipped. Mineral indications 
of great promise exist in the mountains and the foothills. 
Development work is being done in the Rociada and Coyote 
districts. Mora will also some day figure as a coal producer. 
Clay for brick making, red and white sandstone and limestone 
exist in large quantities and of commercial quahty. The 
county is crossed from north to south by the Santa Fe 
Railway for about forty miles. A railway has been surveyed 
from Las Vegas to Mora. The Dawson Railway cuts across 
the eastern part. The county seat is 

Mora. 

It was first settled in 1832 and is situated in a very pretty 
valley. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides except 
where the valley runs southward to Rociada and to San Miguel 
county. The Mora river supplies it with an abundance of 
water and furnishes power for several grist mihs. The town 
has good roads, connecting it with outside poin>:s and is 
connected by telephone with Las Vegas. There are four 
general stores carrying large stocks. 

Mora also has a nice court house, a Roman Catholic church, 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 207 

a Presbyterian church, a Cathohc convent conducted by the 
Sisters of Loretto, who also maintain a school for girls, and 
quite a number of pretty homes. The population of the 
settlement is about 700. It is a pleasant summer resort, and 
many fishing parties from Las Vegas and other points go 
there to fish for trout. The Rio de la Casa which comes tumb- 
ling from the mountains, contains the speckled beauties. 
Promising mineral jDrospects are in the foothills nearby 
and health seekers often go to Mora for rest and health. All 
that Mora needs, to become a large and prosperous town is 
railroad connection with the outside world. 

Wagon Mound 

is the largest settlement, the census of 1900 giving Wagon 
Mound precinct a population of 895, while the population of 
the town itself is 500. Its elevation is 6,250 feet above the sea 
level, and it has a good climate. Mountain peaks make its sur- 
roundings especially picturesque. The principal occupation 
of its inhabitants is stock raising and merchandising. Wagon 
Mound is a prosperous communit}-, with a good public school, 
which is housed in a modern $5,000 building. The enrollment 
of pupils is 250, many children from outside attending the 
schools. There are two large mercantile houses doing an 
extensive business. A weekly newspaper. El Combate, Span- 
ish and English, is printed in the town, which also has two 
churches. Wagon Mound is situated on the main line of the 
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railwa}^, and owing to its 
climatic advantages and beauty of surroundings is attractive 
to health seekers. It is a great wool and stock ship^Ding point 
and the trading center for the Ocate and Mora Valleys. The 
railroad company has a large sheep dipping plant here. 
Several fine farms are in the vicinity and offer accommodations 
to health seekers. 

Roy 

is a town but a little over a year old and a station on the 
Dawson Railroad which runs from Tucumcari in Quay county, 
to the great coal fields at Dawson in Colfax county. The town 
has at this time about 300 inhabitants and is growing. There 
is a large wholesale mercantile establishment there and 
several smaller stores. A monthly paper, the Roy Observer, 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE, 209 

is published. Tlie town is surrounded by prosperous stock 
ranches. 

Otero County. 

Area 6,870 square miles; population 7,500; assessed valua- 
tion in 1903, $1,570,864; post offices: Alamogordo, Avis, 
Cloudcroft, Hereford, High rolls, Brice, La Luz, Mayhill, 
Mescalero, Opal, Oran, Orange, Pine Springs, Russia, Three 
Rivers, Tularosa, Weed and Wright. 

Excepting agricultural settlements at Tularosa, La Luz, 
Weed and a few other points, several scattered ranches and a 
few prospectors in the Jarillas and the Indians on the 
Mescalero reservation, Otero county, in 1898, was practically^ 
uninhabited. It was only five years ago that it was created a 
separate county, but since then it has grown rapidly in 
population and wealth. About 4,000,000 acres of its area arej 
however, still subject to entry. Over 2,500,000 acres are open 
range and 138,000 acres are included in the "White Sands" a 
deposit of gypsum. The White, the Sacramento, the Hueco, 
the Jarilla and the Guadalupe ranges are the principal 
mountain groups. The rivers are but small streams, 
periodical in their flow, and many, having no outlet, lose 
themselves in the sands. Tularosa, La Luz, Sacramento 
creeks and the headwaters of the Penasco, of Eagle creek and 
other brooks flow from the foothills down picturesque canons 
into the open valleys and tablelands. A considerable acreage 
is under cultivation, it being practical to raise crops in parts 
of the Sacramento and White mountains without irrigation. 
A dam across Rinconada canon near Tularosa which will 
impound sufficient water to irrigate 20,000 acres, is projected. 
The leading industries are stock raismg, cattle, sheep and 
goats doing equally well: mining, especially in the Jarillas 
where gold, silver, copper, lead and turquoise deposits exist; 
lumbering, there being thousands of acres of virgin timber 
lands in the Sacramento mountains and manufacturing, there 
being lumber mills, tie preserving plants and railroad shoi3s 
at Alamogordo. The Mescalero Apache Indian reservation 
and part of the Lincoln Forest Reserve are in the county. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 211 

Alamogordo, 

the county seat of Otero county, 4,500 feet above the sea level, 
has experienced the most remarkable growth of any town in 
New Mexico. Five years ago the town was established and it 
has today over 4,000 inhabitants, broad streets, brick 
business blocks well stocked with merchandise, five churches, 
two large saw mills costing over $200,000, an electric light 
plant and ice factory, steam laundry, planing mill, a water 
works system which cost $50,000, a railway hospital, a 
woman's club, a park a mile long, a daily newspaper, the Alamo- 
gordo Journal, three weekly newspapers, the Alamogordo 
News, the Otero County Advertiser and the Alamogordo 
Journal, a fine railroad depot, a modern and commodious 
hotel, a fine public .school building and a public library. It is 
the headquarters of the sixth judicial district. The general 
offices of the El Paso & Northeastern Railway are located here. 
Also the Southwestern Baptist College, whose promoters are 
improving a suburban tract and establishing a great educa- 
tional institution. The streets are lined with young shade 
trees and here and there about the city are dotted beautiful 
parks. The Territory has appropriated $25,000 for the erec- 
tion at Alamogordo of an asylum for the blind on which 
construction work has begun. When five years ago, the 
Alamogordo Improvement Company was organized, the bare 
acres of the townsite were all that was visible. With a capital 
of $500,000 and an unlimited fund of foresight and energy the 
company began work. The original townsite purchase was 
1,200 acres, and from the signing of the title deeds to the 
present time the company has expended in cash $400,000, of 
which $175,000 were for a city water system, $115,000 for city 
and suburban irrigation, and the remaining $110,000 for 
buildings, street and alley construction, and improvements 
for parks and other city purposes. The city water supply is 
brought twelve miles from springs in Alamo Canon, the last 
eight miles of the distance being piped. The system has a 
gravity pressure of 100 pounds to the square inch. The 
company platted its land into city lots and one acre suburban 
tracts, and has brought the waters to its irrigation system 
from La Luz canon, seven miles away. 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 213 

A $25,000 court house has been constructed, a $30,000 
railway hospital is to be built and a $75,000 tie preserving 
plant has been erected. The town is the geographical and 
commercial center of a fine fruit growing section; has 
thousands of tributary fertile acres open to government entry; 
is en'the main line of the shortest route between Kansas City, 
Denver and El Paso to California and Mexico and is within 
several hours' jaunt of the famous Cloud City, the areal sum- 
mer and scenic southwestern resort, with which it is 
connected by the Sacramento Mountain Railway, one of the 
engineering wonders of the United States. 

Tularosa 

is situated on the El Paso and Northeastern Railway. Its 
latitude is about thirty-three degrees north and is at the base 
of the White Mountains, whose highest peak about twenty-five 
miles distant, rises 12,500 feet. It is supphed with water by 
the Tularosa creek, which is a mountain stream whose sources 
consist of several mountain springs, containing iron, magnesia 
and sulphur, on the reservation of the Mescalero Indians, 
flowing for about twenty miles through the canon dividing the 
White Mountains and the Sacramento range. These mountains 
are covered with pine, fir, juniper, pinon and balsam fir, all 
of which endow the atmosphere with heahng balm beneficial 
to the lungs. To the westward are the San Andreas moun- 
tains, some forty miles away, showing several high peaks and 
an elevation of about 9,000 feet. Northwest are the Oscura 
mountains, about seventy-five miles distant. No finer scenery 
for the painter's brush can be found than is afforded from this 
dreamy town, in the Tularosa Valley, part of a vast level plain 
running northerly some sixty miles, and southerly to the 
Texas line and beyond for 100 miles and some fifty miles in 
width, a veritable paradise, if properly supplied with water, 
and this can be provided through storage reservoirs and 
pumping plants. 

The temperature of Tularosa and vicinity ranges from the 
freezing point to ninety degrees Fahrenheit. This is the 
record for eighteen years. The thermometer reaches its 
highest point about the middle of August, when for about two 
weeks it reaches ninety-four degrees at noon, and remains 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 215 

there until 3 p. m., when it begins to dechne, and at night the 
breeze sets in from the mountains which renders a blanket 
necessary before morning. The large number of cottonwood 
trees which line the streets of Tularosa furnish a dense shade, 
which makes the warmest days pleasant and agreeable. The 
real winter usually lasts from about the '20th of December 
until the 10th of January, and then ice can be seen on the 
irrigation ditches from one-eighth to one-fourth inch thick. 
Tularosa being completely landlocked against the winds on 
the north and east by mountain ranges and spurs from the 
main ranges, never experiences those sudden changes of 
temperature which are so severe upon those suffering from 
throat and lung trouble. Fruits of the temperate zone grow 
to perfection in Tularosa. There is no record of the failure 
of the fruit crop since the settlement of the town in 1862. 
Grapes do well, bees do well, making honey of good quality. 
Alfalfa grows to perfection producing one to two tons per acre 
at each cutting and from three to live tons each year. Garden 
products are unexcelled. Tomatoes grown here are large and 
of good flavor. Watermelons and cantaloupes do well, the flavor 
of the cantaloupes being fine and the vines very prolific. 
The population in and near the town is about 1,200, the census 
of 1900 giving Tularosa precinct a population of 752. The town 
has a public school building. The Catholic is the oldest 
church in the town. The tourist and hunter will find many 
attractions in the vicinity of Tularosa. Six hours' ride will 
take the hunter among the wild turkey, blacktail deer and the 
cinnamon bear, and a day's drive in a buggy will carry the 
disciple of Walton to where the speckled trout are waiting, 
greedy for the angler's bait. The mountain ranges show 
indications of gold, silver, copper, iron and coal. 

Quay County. 

Area 2, ft05 square miles; population 4,000; assessed valua- 
tion in 1903, S7r)0,000. County seat Tucumcari. Post offices : 
Tucumcari. Dodson, Endee, Montoya, Moore, Quay, Puerto, 
Revuelto. The county was created by the 35th Legislative 
Assembly in 1903, and was named in honor of the late United 
States Senator Matthew Stanley Quay, of Pennsylvania. 
Guadalupe and Union counties gave up the area to create the 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 217 

county, the greater part coming from Guadalupe, now Leon- 
ard Wood county. The county seat was fixed at Tucumcari, 
a busy railroad center at the junction of the Chicago, Rock 
Island and Pacific Railway and the Dawson Railway. These 
two railroads traverse it and give ample railway facilities and 
have resulted in the coming of scores of new settlers. Its 
area is 1,795,270 acres, making it one of the small counties 
of New Mexico, although it is one and a half times as large 
as the State of Delaware. 

Quay is classed as a plains county, but it is by no means 
entirely level, the surface being broken by hills and 
peaks, which in spots rise to the dignity of mountains, all 
being foothills of the great Rocky mountain system. The 
county is in the drainage area of the Canadian river in its 
northern part. Besides the Canadian the Pajarito is the 
principal water course. The Plaza Largo and the Trujillo are 
other streams, but are dry part of the year. Basins or water 
holes dot the plains, which are filled with water at times, 
forming lakes in the rainy season. 

Being a grazing country, the stock industry flourishes. On 
its ranges are 150,000 sheep and 30,000 cattle. Tucumcari has 
become a great wool shipping center, the grade of wool 
produced being above the average. The mild winters, a good 
supply of water, and the railroad facilities make the county 
especially favorable to the stock industry. 

Agriculture is also carried on upon a small scale, water for 
irrigation being supplied chiefly from shallow wehs. The 
water can be raised by wind mills or with gasohne engines. 
On the Pajarito and around Tucumcari there are good 
farms. A beginning has been made in raising fruit, the 
chmate being especially adapted to horticulture, apiarj^, 
chicken farming, and other branches of husbandry. Excellent 
building stone is found as well as clay for the making of brick. 
The chmate, like that of the rest of the Territory, is a specific 
for lung and throat trouble. The winters are mild and the 
summers are cool, especially the summer nights. The altitude 
varies between 4,000 and 6,000 feet. The greater part of the 
land is subject to entry under the federal land laws, although 
around Tucumcari the land has been pretty well taken up by 
homesteaders. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 219 



Tucumcari 



is the principal and only town. There are small settlements 
at Dodson, Endee, Montoya, Puerco and Revuelto, where 
post offices and stores are maintained. Tucumcari is a pros- 
perous town situated at the foot of the Tucumcari mountain, 
at the junction of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific 
Railway, the Dawson Railway and the Choctaw- Amarillo 
extension to be completed in the near future. The surround- 
ing country is a rolling prairie, broken and intercepted by 
smaU streams and the Canadian river, which flows through 
the eastern portion. Tucumcari has a population of 1,000, 
The town is but little over two years old and is making satis- 
factory growth. Several large new buildings have just been 
completed. Work is in progress upon a $15,000 court house 
and jail upon which construction work has commenced and a 
$10,000 school building was recently completed. The three 
railroads which form a junction here have drawn plans for a 
$15,000 union depot as weU as shops and a large round house. 
Many other smaller buildings including cozy homes, are in 
course of construction. Tucumcari has two newspapers, The 
Times and The Democrat. The town commands an extensive 
trade territory and is the center of a large sheep and wool 
industry, a wool scouring i^lant having been recently built. 

Rio Arriba County. 

Area 5,810 square miles; population 1900 census, 13,177; 
since then Espanola precinct of Santa Fe county has been 
added to it. Present population of the county, 16,500. 
Assessed valuation in 1903, $981,685. County seat Tierra 
Amariha. Post offices : Tierra Amarilla, Park View, Tusas, 
Espanola, Chamita, Cordova, El Rito, Canjilon, Vallecitos, 
Petaca, Hopewell, Chama, Monero, Lumberton, Dulce, Abi- 
quiu, Alcalde, Coyote, Dixon, Embudo, Gahina, Lyden, 
Mariana, Rinconada, Truchas, Velarde and Rosa. It is the 
eighth largest county of the Territory. It has moi-e than five 
times the area of the State of Rhode Island, thrice that of 
Delaware, a greater area than Connecticut, and is almost as 
large as Hawaii. Although a large part is covered by private 
land grants yet almost 2,000,000 acres are still subject to 
entry under the federal land laws. 




CANON ON THE BRAZOS, RIO ARRIBA COUNTY. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 221 

Rio Arriba is one of the richest of New Mexico's subdivis- 
ions, the census of 1902 showing that its agricultural wealth 
alone amounted to $2,566,000. The surface is very much 
broken. The principal mountain ranges are the Cumbres, 
the Gallinas, the Jemez and the Cejita Blanca, a number of 
the peaks rising to an altitude of 12,000 feet. The mountains 
give a large drainage area and the streams, in consequence, 
at certain times of the year carry a large volume of water. 
As there are many good reservoir sites, a considerable portion 
of the water supply will at some future day be available for 
irrigation purposes, but at present most of it flows to waste, 
only about 50,000 acres being under ditch and 30,000 acres 
under cultivation. The county is in the drainage area of the 
Rio Grande, except that small portion west of the Continental 
Divide. The principal rivers are the Chama with about 
fifteen tributaries and the Rio Grande. Rio Arriba county has 
the dry, sunny mountain chmate so much sought for by 
health seekers. About 140 miles of the Denver and Rio 
Grande Railroad traverse the county, in addition to about 
thirty-five miles of branch timber railroads. Stock raising, 
especially sheep, is the main industry. Next in importance is 
agriculture. Then comes mining, the camp at Monero produc- 
ing 50,000 tons of coal a year. The Bromide, Hopeweh and 
Tusas mining districts near Tres Piedras are very promising, 
copper, gold, silver, lead, platinum and mica being among the 
mineral products. Lumbering is also an important industry, 
about 50,000 feet of lumber being cut daily. The Jicarilla 
Apache reservation is in the county, covering 415,000 acres 
upon which are 830 Indians making rapid advance. There are 
many attractions for tourists, among them being the cliff 
dwellings of the Pajarito Park. Some of the settlements are 
among the oldest in the United States. 

Tierra Amarilla 

is the county seat and is situated in the beautiful Chama 
Valley, with pretty agricultural settlements around it, the 
principal of which is Park View. The population of Tierra 
Amarilla and contiguous settlements, including the charming 
settlement of Park View, is about 2,200. A weekly newspaper. 
El Republicano, is pubhshed here. Tierra Amarilla and Park 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 223 

View boast of several fine business houses and are also the 
center of a wealthy stock country. At El Rito, the Territory 
will build a reform school. At Espanola, La Luz, a weekly 
newspaper is published. The tow^n is a busy trade center. 
San Juan is a large Indian Pueblo. Chamita, near San Juan, 
is considered by some historians the oldest white settlement 
in New Mexico. 

Chama 

is a modern railroad town on the Denver and Rio Grande 
Railroad on which it is a division point, and is a shipping 
point for the wool, lumber and other products of the northern 
part. It has public schools and churches. Near the town are 
stone quarries, from which the stone for the Colorado capitol 
at Denver was taken. Ranches and stock ranges surround 
the town and nearby are several fine trout streams and good 
hunting grounds. The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad 
maintains here big dipping vats for sheep. The population 
is 500. 

Abiquiu 

is one of the oldest settlements in the Territory and is 
centrally located in the valley of the Rio Chama. For many 
years it was an outpost against hostile Indians and many 
expeditions against the Apaches and Utes were organized 
there. It has an interesting history and was, ufi to within 
thirty years ago quite important in the county. It is today a 
good trading center. There are numerous other settlements 
which are supported by agriculture, horticulture and stock 
raising; they are found in the Espanola Valley on the Rio 
Grande, in the valleys of the Chama and tributary streams, 
and are increasing in population and prosperity steadily. 

Roosevelt County. 

Area 3,110 square miles; population 4,500. The census of 
1900 gave this area a population of 383. Assessed valuation 
in 1903, $600,000. County seat Portales. Post offices : Arch, 
Bethel, Elida, Floyd, Langston, Portales, Stockton and Texico. 
Roosevelt county, named after the president, was created by 
the 35th Legislative As.sembly in the year 1903. It is distinct- 
ively a plains county, and, excepting a fraction of the northwest 








ROOSEVELT COUNTY SCENES. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 225 

corner, is rectangular in form. It measures sixty-four miles 
from east to west and fifty -four miles from north to south. 
It is the seventeenth in size in New Mexico and yet it covers 
an area three times that of the State of Rhode Island. Its 
western boundary is approximately along the divide or 
watershed between the Pecos river on the west and the Brazos 
river on the east. The principal valley crosses the county 
from a point on the west boundary line north of the center to 
a point a little south of the center of the eastern boundary 
line, so that the entire county is traversed in northwesterly 
southeasterly direction by a broad valley, which has come to 
be known as the "Inland Valley." It is for the greater part 
of its length skirted on either side by low hills, and bears all 
the indications of having been at one time the course of a 
broad flowing stream of water. There are at intervals along 
the course of this valley springs, from which flows a constant 
stream of pure non-allvaline water. Particularly is this true 
near the head of the valley, where there is a considerable 
number of such springs. The course of the drainage for the 
flow of waters divides at a point a little north and west of the 
center. The one part forms the head of what is known as the 
Black Water branch of the Brazos river, and the other forms 
the headwaters of the Yellow Horse branch of that stream. 
Numerous draws grade into the inland valley at various points 
along the entire length, coming from different directions and 
distances, covering the entire county with a net work of 
drainage. These draws and valleys are for the most part 
broad and the grade from the higher land is so slight that in 
passing over the surface, the descent or the ascent is scarcely 
noticeable. To either side of the principal valley and beyond 
the narrow range of sand bluffs the surface broadens out into 
the wide plains, upon which the native grasses grow in 
abundance, providing pasture for cattle, sheep and horaes, 
upon which they feed the year around. From those pastures 
great numbers of these animals are shipi3ed and driven 
annually both to the market and to the northern states for 
feeding. Because of the mildness of the climate and the 
abundant growth of grasses, the region embraced within the 
limits of Roosevelt county is rightly considered a ])art of 
nature's breeding ground. 





ROOSEVELT COUNTY SCENES. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 227 

It is crossed from the northeast to the southwest by the 
Pecos Valley and Northeastern Railway, a part of the Santa 
Fe system, operating seventy miles in the county. Not to 
exceed 250,000 acres have been appropriated or reserved, the 
area subject to entry under the land laws being 1,035,934 
acres, while the remainder is included in public school sections 
16 and 36 and other territorial lands. As late as the year 
1900, with the exception of a few cattle, horse or sheep 
ranches, long distances apart, the whole region was unoccu- 
pied and unappropriated government land. Since the year 
1900, there has been a steady inflow of settlers, so that by 
this time 1,560 quarter sections are occupied by actual settlers 
who are mostly engaged in farming without irrigation as a 
means of earning a livelihood. There is throughout the Inland 
Valley, an inexhaustible supply of water, from surface springs 
to an underground flow, at a depth of 100 feet. This makes a 
convenient supply of good water, that has been pronounced 
by experts to be more cheaply available for irrigation on 
small farms than could be otherwise obtained. The water can 
be raised to the surface by means of pumping engines at a 
comparatively low cost. This also makes possible the intense 
cultivation of the land. A test is now being made for artesian 
water in Portales and it is believed that a flow can be secured 
at a moderate depth. The people who have settled in the 
county are for the most part from the plains of Texas and 
Oklahoma. 

The western range of townships lie in such proximity to the 
Pecos River Valley that a considerable body of land in that 
vicinity has been temporarily reserved under the provisions 
of the national irrigation law, pending a survey to determine 
the feasibility of building an irrigation system. Prom a 
view of the situation it seems evident that nature especially 
intended that section for a natural reservoir into which the 
flood waters of the Pecos can be led at a minimum cost, and 
from this storage reservoir by a system of canals and ditches 
a large tract of level, fertile land can be brought under irriga- 
tion and cultivation. 

There is every indication that horticulture will become a 
profitable industry. Such fruit bearing trees as have reached 
a bearing age at the older ranches have produced fruit of an 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 229 

unsurpassed quality. The elevation retards too early blooming 
in the spring, while the sunshine and soil conduce to the 
highest development of flavor, form and color. Almost every 
homesteader has planted an orchard, while many thousands 
of forest, ornamental and shade trees have been planted. 
These all make a satisfactory growth, and when the soil is 
properly prepared before setting and afterwards kept in good 
state of cultivation, the growth of these is surprisingly rapid. 
A peach orchard at the headquarters of the "H" ranch, two 
miles west of Portales, bore a heavy crop of peaches in the 
years 1900, 1901 and 1902. All kinds of small fruit do well; 
also all varieties of plum and cherry trees make a gratifymg 
growth. The climatic conditions which exist in Roosevelt 
county are favorable to those afflicted with pulmonar}^ 
catarrhal or asthmatic troubles, and the elevation is suffi- 
ciently great to make epidemics of enteric diseases and 
malaria out of the question. 

Portales. 

The building of the Pecos Valley and Northeastern Railway 
extension, connecting Roswell with Amarillo during the fall 
of 1898, marked the beginning of the building of the town of 
Portales. While the railroad was being constructed there was 
a tent city on the townsite, which, for the most part, vanished 
after the tracks were laid and the depot built. Little was 
done in the line of settlement and the permanent building of 
the town until the fall of the year 1900. The altitude of 
Portales is 4,00-4 feet above sea level. It is ninety miles 
from Roswell, 116 miles from Amarillo, and eighteen miles 
from the New Mexico-Texas boundary. It lies in a valley in 
which rise the headwaters of the Yellow Horse branch of the 
Brazos river. The general contour of the surrounding country 
is level prairie, and throughout the entire vicinity water may 
be had from springs that flow out at several points along the 
draw and from a depth of 100 feet or more. The growth of 
the town has been steady, and has not exceeded the settlement 
and development of the surrounding country. Its population 
at present is 1,300, while the precinct has a population of over 
2,000. There are two banks, one national, and the other 
territorial. There are five hotels and a number of boarding 





SCENES NEAR AND AT PORTALES. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 231 

houses, three dry goods stores, two saddlery stores and 
shops, four grocery stores, three drug stores, two grain and 
feed stores, two livery barns, four lumber yards, two meat 
markets, three blacksmith shops, one tin shop, two newspa- 
pers. The Portales Herald and The Portales Times, three 
doctors, three churches, a plant for the manufacture of 
artificial stone for building purposes, a cold storage plant, 
two millinery stores and a telephone exchange. Farming and 
stock raising are the industries that contribute mostly to the 
town's prosperity. Pure water free from alkali is obtained 
on the townsite from wells at a depth of eighteen feet. A 
stone court house was built this year. 

Elida 

is situated near the southwestern boundary. It is twenty-five 
miles from the county seat, and is a station on the Pecos 
Valley and Northeastern Railway. The land in its neighbor- 
hood is rolling prairie and covered with a luxuriant growth of 
mesquite and gramma grass. A townsite has been laid out. 
It covers eighty acres. A square is dedicated to the public. 
A public w^ell, pumping plant and reservoir and a block for a 
post office building are included in this public square. Elida 
has a postoffice, a general merchandise store, a hardware 
store, a large lumber yard, a grain and feed store, a restaur- 
ant, a weekly newspaper, The Elida News, a blacksmith shop 
and a carpenter shop. In the town and immediate vicinity 
there is a population of 600 people. Beyond the present 
settlement and in every direction there are fine lands subject 
to entry under the homestead act. 

Texico 

is at the point where the Pecos Valley and Northeastern 
Railway crosses the New Mexico-Texas boundary line. The 
townsite was surveyed and platted in August, 1902; it is 
twenty-two miles from Portales. The land upon which the 
town is located is for the most part level. The growth of the 
town has been quite rapid. More than 100 quarter sections 
of land in the immediate vicinity have been occupied by 
actual settlers. The soil in the vicinity is a deep sandy loam, 
easy of cultivation and very productive. The survey of the 








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BUILDINGS AT PORTALES. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 233 

Eastern Railway of New Mexico forms a junction at this point 
with the Pecos Valley and Northeastern Railway, and surveys 
have been made out of Texico for railroad purposes eastward 
to Ployada and Quanah, Texas. There are already at Texico 
eighteen business houses and the population of the town and 
immediate vicinity is not less than 500. A school house has 
been built and a weekly newspaper, The Texico Trumpet, is 
published. 

Bethel, 

which is nine miles from Portales has a post office. A school 
is maintained here by the Christian church, which has erected 
buildings at this point for the accommodation of students. 
The land in the vicinity of Bethel for several miles in every 
direction has been entered under the homestead act, and is 
being occupied and cultivated by actual settlers. 

Floyd. 

Nine miles west of Bethel is the settlement and post office 
of Floyd. Floyd has a general store and a neat school build- 
ing only recently completed. Practically every quarter 
section of land for several miles around this settlement has 
been taken up, and is occupied and under cultivation by home- 
stead entrymen. 

Sandoval County. 

Area 3,959 square miles. Population 12,500. Assessed 
valuation in 1903, $792,565. County seat, Sandoval. Post 
offices: Albemarle, Algodones, Bernalillo, Bland, Cabezon, 
Casa Salazar, Cuba, Jemez, Miller, Pena Blanca, Perea, 
Placitas, Sulphur, Sandoval, Senorito, Thornton, Woodbury. 

The county was created by an act of the 35th Legislative 
Assembly in 1903, Bernalillo county contributing the largest 
area. Of its area, 1,230,000 acres or one-half, is still subject 
to entry under the federal land laws, while a considerable 
portion of the remainder is included in so-called private land 
grants. The Rio Grande cuts through its southeastern corner. 
The Puerco river rises in the county. Next to the Rio Grande 
and the Puerco, the Jemez is the principal stream. The 
Galisteo, the Frijole, the Una de Gato and the San Pedro are 
the streams in the eastern part. 




SANDOVAL COUNTY FRUIT. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 235 

The main range of the Rocky mountains here called the 
Valles, or Cochiti and Jemez range, and the Continental 
Divide penetrate into the county, some of the peaks rising to 
an elevation of 12,000 feet. These mountains are cut by deep 
gulches and canons. In its southeastern part is the massive 
and picturesque Sandia range. 

It is the thirteenth in size among the twenty-four counties 
of the Territory, covering an area almost four times as great 
as does the State of Rhode Island. The principal industries are 
stock raising, farming, fruit growing and mining. Its central 
location, great diversity of topography and fine climate, 
together wnth the fact that the central Rio Grande Valley 
starts in the county and extends through it for more than 
twenty miles, give it prominence and attractiveness. There 
are nearly 600,000 acres that can be brought under irrigation 
and about 1,500,000 acres are good pasture. The mesas or 
tablelands are usually long stretches of plain, varying in 
width from five to twenty miles and extending from the base 
of the mountains in the direction of the valley, with an inch- 
nation of only a few feet to the mile, and ending abruptly in a 
range of bluffs or sand hills, which form a background of 
brown to the verdure of the valley. The mesas are the 
principal grazing districts. In seasons of average rainfall the 
grass grows well. 

About 10,000 acres are under ditch, only about 3,000 acres 
being under actual cultivation. The irrigation systems are 
primitive and there is abundant opportunity for profitable 
investment in irrigation works. The Indian villages of Cochiti, 
Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Sandia, Jemez, Santa Ana and 
Zia are in the county. Fruit, especially the Mission grape, 
vegetables and alfalfa, do well in the Rio Grande bottoms. 
The range is very good especially for sheep. The mineral 
resources are varied. Bland being the principal mining camp, 
and Hagan the center of fine coal deposits. A number of 
pleasant summer resorts and hot and mineral springs are 
situated in the Valles range. The county is traversed for 
about forty miles by the Santa Fe Railway. 





SCENES AT AND NEAR ALBUQUERQUE. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 237 

Bernalillo 

is the largest town. It was at one time the county seat of the 
county of Bernalillo, in which it was located formerly. It has 
quite an interesting history and is one of the oldest European 
settlements in the Rio Grande Valley. It is picturesquely 
situated, surrounded by fields and orchards, which are irri- 
gated from the Rio Grande. It has a modern flour mill, 
several substantial business houses, an academy for girls, 
good public schools and nice homes. Its climate makes it a 
very agreeable place for healthseekers. Round about are 
many prosperous agricultural settlements. Several Indian 
pueblos lie a few miles north of it. The vineyards of the 
immediate vicinity are famous, the Mission grapes here 
attaining a size and flavor that is unexcelled. The town has 
a Roman Catholic church. Bernalillo is situated on the main 
line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The 
census of 1900 gave it a population of 766, but many more 
people live in its immediate vicinity. 

Sandoval is the county seat for the present but has no court 
house and jail. 

Thornton is a railroad station where there are several 
stores and is the terminus of the wagon road to the Cochiti 
mining district. 

At Algodones a townsite has been laid out, and after the 
building of the Santa Fe Central Railway from Hagan to 
Algodones, where it will form a junction with the Atchison, 
Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, it will become an important 
railroad point. 

Corrales and Huertas are settlements in the Rio Grande 
Valley, and La Madera and San Antonito are rural settlements 
picturesquely situated in the foothills of the Sandia moun- 
tains. 

Jemez 

is in the western part of the county and is of importance as in 
its vicinity are the celebrated Jemez, Sulphurs and San 
Antonio hot springs, the waters of which are especially good 
in blood diseases, kidney complaints, rheumatism, stomach 
troubles and other disorders. The excellent curative prop- 
erties of these waters are well known throughout New 





ALBUQUERQUE STREET SCENES. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 239 

Mexico, but as Jemez is fifty miles from the railroad, the 
town and surrounding springs are not visited and used much 
by people from outside of the territory. Whenever this 
section shall have railroad connection the springs are sure to 
become a great health resort. Cuba in the western part of the 
county is a trading point doing a healthy business. 

San Juan County. 

From an agricultural and climatic standpoint, San Juan 
county is one of the most favored counties in New Mexico. 
Area 5,598 square miles. Population 6,500 (4,828 according 
to census of 1900). Assessed valuation in 1903, $679,491. 
Post offices: Aztec, Parmington, Putnam, La Boca, Blanco, 
Bloomfield, Canon, Cedar Hill, Crozier, Crystal, Ploravista, 
Fruitland, Hood, Jewett, Kirtland, La Plata, Largo, Olio and 
Pendleton. 

San Juan county occupies the northwestern corner of the 
Territory. The government monument, which marks its 
northwestern corner, also marks the corners of New Mexico, 
Arizona, Utah and Colorado. It is adjacent to one of the 
richest mining fields in the United States and its present 
distributing point is Durango, just over the Colorado line. It 
is an empire in itself. Of its area 1,958,400 acres are included 
in the Navajo Indian reservation; 1,470,000 acres are still 
subject to entry under the land laws; about 260,000 have been 
appropriated, and about 300,000 acres are irrigable. It is five 
and one-half times as large as the State of Rhode Island; 
three times as large as Delaware and it contains 900 square 
miles more than the State of Connecticut. 

Topographically the county, or at least the irrigable portion 
of it viewed from above, presents the appearance of a basin 
surrounded on all sides with mountains and high ridges, with 
a deep notch cut. into one side, through which the San Juan 
river flows. It is not mountainous, but is located in the foot- 
hills, on the mesas, and in the valleys with gigantic mountain 
masses to the north in Colorado. Some of the hills, however, 
rise to a considerable altitude. Outside of the river valleys 
and the upper mesas, which are broad and level, the county 
consists of a series of double lands broken by arroyos and 
generally composed of fertile soil, upon which the native 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 241 

grasses grow luxuriantly. The altitude ranges from 4,500 to 
5,800 feet. The annual rainfall amounts to fourteen inches. 
The water supply for irrigation is abundant and is distributed 
by splendid systems of canals and ditches, several new 
systems being under construction. The irrigable areas are 
found on the table and bottom lands of the San Juan, Las 
Animas and La Plata rivers. About 100,000 acres are under 
ditch, of which 50,000 acres might be easily cultivated, but 
thus far only 15,000 acres are under actual cultivation. 
Alfalfa, the cereals and the best of fruits are the principal 
crops. Its apples are famous in eastern markets. Climate 
and conditions are especially favorable to dairying, poultry, 
farming and bee culture. The live stock industry is important 
as by far the greater part of the area of the county is free 
public range. The largest coal deposits of New Mexico are 
there, but owing to lack of railroad facilities, they are being 
worked only on a small scale. There are also indications of oil. 

Farmington 

is the largest town, having a population of about 750. It is 
situated on the San Juan river, between the mouths of the 
Animas and the La Plata rivers. It was an Indian trading 
post twenty-five years ago. Every branch of trade is repre- 
sented. There are three large mercantile establishments, 
two hotels, two restaurants, one drug store, two blacksmith 
shops, one millinery store, one hardware store, one confec- 
tionery store, a modern flouring mill run by water power, a 
distillery,an evaporator, two meat markets and a meat packing 
establishment, one lumber yard , one jewelry store, two barber 
shops, three churches, one weekly newspaper. The Farming- 
ton-Times Hustler, one bank, one livery stable and one brick 
yard. It is an incorporated town, has a system| of public 
water works and an electric light plant. It has a commodious 
brick school building. A United States Indian school for the 
Navajoes is being built ten miles west of Farmington. 

Aztec, 

on the Animas, is the county seat. It is twenty-three years 
old. It has four general stores, one hotel, one restaurant, 
one drug store, one hardware store, a modern water power 
flour mill, one barber shop, one livery stable, one harness 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 243 

shop, one millinery store, one jewelry store, one confectionery 
store, one nursery, three churches, a weekly paper, the Index, 
a new $10,000 court house and jail, a high school building, 
whose four rooms, however, have been outgrown by the town 
and another school house will be built to increase the school 
facilities. A banking institution has been established. The 
population of Aztec is 600. 

Largo 

is quite a settlement on the San Juan river at the mouth of 
the Canon Largo. It is the oldest in the county and its 
inhabitants support themselves by agriculture and stock 
raising. Blanco is a new town on the upper San Juan river 
which bids fair to attain considerable prominence in the near 
future as it is the headquarters of an irrigation company 
which has the construction of a large canal and the bringing 
of 30,000 acres of land under irrigation in view, and is now 
preparing for this work. 

The valleys of the San Juan river and its .two principal 
tributaries in the county, the Animas and the La Plata are 
thickly settled by enterprising and hardworking farmers 
who support themselves by agriculture, horticulture and 
stock raising. The orchards of that section are many and 
San Juan county fruit has already attained a very enviable 
reputation. 

San Miguel County. 

Area 5,001 square miles. Population census of 1900, 22,053, 
present population, 25,500. Assessed valuation in 1903, 
$4,450,000. County seat, Las Vegas. Post offices: Las Vegas, 
Tecolote, Villanueva, Willis, Mineral Hill, Sibley, Onava, 
Sanchez, Trementina, Bell Ranch, Beulah, Cabra, Chaves, 
Chaperito, Corazon, Chapelle, Hadley, Gallinas Springs, Los 
Alamos, Rociada, Sapello, Fulton, Pecos, Ribera, Rowe, San 
Jose, San Miguel, Sena and Gonzales. 

San Miguel, the "Empire County" of New Mexico, is not 
only one of the most favored sections of the Territory in point 
of early settlement and subsequent development, but it 
presents such diversity of resources that homeseekers and 
investors are alike attracted to the region. The leading 
industry is stock raising, although the county is also a 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 245 

producer of cereals. The small stock owners rather than the 
large concerns, control the range. The mild winter climate, 
a fair supply of water and good shipping facilities, are 
advantages that the stock raiser appreciates. There are 
about 70,000 head of cattle and 400,000 sheep owned. Crop 
raising without irrigation is feasible in a few of the mountain 
valleys. Wherever water is available for irrigation prohfic 
crops of grain, vegetables and fruit are raised. San Miguel 
produces excellent building stone and its mineral wealth 
comprises deposits of gold, silver, lead, copper, mica, iron, 
alum, gypsum, fire clays and especially coal. The lumber 
industry is important and the northwestern part is timbered, 
part of the Pecos Forest Reserve being in the county. The 
Santa Fe Railway cuts through the county and is one of 
the principal factors in its prosperity. The Dawson Railway 
traverses the eastern portion. The climate is very good and 
a number of health and pleasure resorts are located near Las 
Vegas. 

Las Vegas 

means "The Meadows." It is a city of over 10,000 inhabitants, 
situated on both sides of the Gahinas river and is the county 
seat. It hes in a pretty and fertile valley at the western edge 
of a wide plateau of tableland, stretching many miles eastward 
and at the foot of the main range of the Rocky mountains, 
occupying a commanding site in a commercial as weh as 
climatic respect. Its history commences definitely with the 
year 1835 when a colony w^as established there by the 
Republic of Mexico. A grant of land comprising nearly 
500,000 acres in extent was given to the community of Las 
Vegas for homestead and agricultural purposes, and through 
colonization the population gradually increased and the town 
or community of Las Vegas was permanently established. 
Las Vegas of today which is a modern city, is composed, 
strictly speaking, of the incorporated city of Las Vegas and 
the town, also incorporated, lying west of the river. While 
portions of the old town have a quaint and picturesque appear- 
ance, adobe houses, narrow, crooked streets, old customs, 
handicrafts and occupations, always of interest both to local 
residents and tourists, yet it, as well as the new town east of 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 247 

the river, constitute distinctive modern cities. The streets 
are wide and well graded, while cement sidewalks line almost 
every street and many are lined with growing trees. Three 
parks, with lawns and trees, add to the beauty of the place, as 
do handsome and well filled stores, elegant residences with 
attractive environments and nice lawns. Its thermal waters 
are of great healing quahty, while its climate is very super- 
ior, there being no malaria, no excessive heat nor cold and 
there is freedom from mosquitoes. The air is pure, dry, 
rarified and highly electrified, a certain cure for consumption, 
if the cure be taken in time. The mineral waters of the hot 
springs nearby are a specific for hver, skin, rheumatic and 
blood disorders. For the year 1903 the mean annual tempera- 
ture was 51.7 degrees. There w^ere 286 clear days, sixty-four 
partly cloudy days, and only fifteen clouded days. On fifty- 
three days more than 0.01 of an inch of precipitation fell with 
a total rainfall of 9.78 inches, and 15.5 inches of snowfaU, the 
normal annual precipitation being 19.35 inches. 

The water supply is good and is taken from the Gallinas 
river, in the canon, about seven miles above the town. The 
latitude of Las Vegas is about the same as that of central 
Tennessee, while the altitude is nearly 6,500 feet. This 
combination gives a peculiar and beneficial result. In the 
winter the thermometer seldom falls below forty degrees in 
the sun, while it often runs up to sixty-five degrees or even 
more. On the other hand, in the summer, the heat is never 
oppressive in the shade and no night is too warm for comfort- 
able sleep under one or two blankets. This, with the extreme 
dryness of the air, caused by the slight precipitation of 
moisture, the resinous aroma coming from the pine clad 
mountains, the large amount of electricity in the air, and the 
ozone resulting from the altitude, as well as its location, land 
locked by mountain and mesa, combine to produce an atmos- 
phere which is a balm to the respiratory organs affected with 
disease. 

In the way of health and pleasure resorts, Las Vegas does 
well. In a radius of twenty miles, in romantic mountain 
glens, are located many picturesque health resorts. Among 
them are Las Vegas Hot Springs, Harvey's Resort, the 
highest mountain resort in the world; El Porvenir, Sandoval's, 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 249 

Mineral Hill, Romero Ranch, Blakes, Sparks, Sapello and 
Rociada. There one can enjoy all outdoor sports, such as trout 
fishing, hunting, etc. The lover of nature has here the 
opportunity of viewing some of the grandest mountain 
scenery in all the Rocky mountain region, the "Scenic 
Route"' road being under construction at present across the 
Pecos Forest Reserve to Santa Fe. 

Las Vegas affords satisfactory educational advantages, 
having five public schools, one being a handsome stone 
structure costing $25,000, and the Territorial Normal School, 
which has an advanced course of study. These schools employ 
upward of twenty-one teachers, with an enrollment of 2,200 
children and students. Among other schools are the Academy 
of the Immaculate Conception, conducted by the Sisters of 
Loretto; a Presbyterian mission, a Methodist Training Manual 
and a commercial school in connection with the Normal 
University, as well as several music schools. There is now 
being erected a Carnegie Library to cost not less than $10,000. 

Las Vegas is the headquarters of the New Mexico division 
of the Santa Fe Railway system, and has railroad machine 
shops, tie preserving works and stock yards. It has two 
national banks and one savings bank with deposits of nearly 
a million, three local building and loan associations, a 
trust company, over a dozen new and commodious hotels, 
restaurants and boarding houses; commission and whole- 
sale firms carrying large stocks of merchandise. It 
is a noted wool center, and the annual sales of that 
staple reach into the millions. Here is located the 
largest sheep dipping plant in the country and five wool 
scouring mills are operated. There are published at Las 
Vegas the Optic, an eight page daily newspaper, having the 
Associated Press service; several weekly publications, includ- 
ing the Weekly Optic and Stock Grower, La Voz del Pueblo, 
El Independiente and La Revista Catolica. There are twelve 
churches of various denominations. Las Vegas has about eight 
miles of electric railway, two electric light plants and a roller 
flour mill, with a capacity of fifty barrels per day, as well as 
ordinary flour mills: a manufactury of mineral and carbonated 
waters; three or more carriage and wagon manufactories; 
saddle and harness factories; two planing mills, as well as two 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 251 

lumber yards; one foundry, one machine shop; two ice plants 
and a cold storage plant. The town has two telephone 
exchanges; one that connects this city with Denver and 
other Colorado points. A large and well equipped sanitarium 
known as St. Anthony's is conducted by the Sisters of Charity. 
There are also quarries of building stone near the city. The 
city has a driving park and the Montezuma hotel and sanita- 
rium at the Hot Springs is about to be reopened. The 
Territorial Insane Asylum having accommodations for 200 
patients is located here. It is an extensive institution and its 
capacity and buildings are being increased. An addition to 
cost $30,000 is now in course of construction. 

Santa Fe County. 

Area 2,160 square miles. Population, census of 1900, 
14,658; present population is 18,000. Assessed valuation in 
1903, $2,458,790. County seat, Santa Fe. Post offices : Santa 
Fe, Glorieta, Cerrillos, Golden, Kennedy, Madrid, Moriarty, 
San Pedro, Chimayo, Hobart, Ildefonso, Nambe, Pojoaque, 
Santa Cruz, Lamy, Cow Springs and Gahsteo. 

This county does not occupy as conspicuously large an area 
as many other counties of New Mexico, but owing to the 
history of its political capital, whence it derives its name, its 
scenic and climatic attractions and its diversified resources, 
it naturally takes first rank in interest among the political 
subdivisions of the Territory. 

It is the central county of the Territory; is rectangular in 
form, extending south a distance of seventy-two miles from 
the thirty-sixth degree of latitude, and measures thirty miles 
from east to west; embraces a total area of 2,160 square miles, 
being twice as large as Rhode Island and 200 square miles 
larger than the State of Delaware. Of this area 950,000 acres 
are officially pronounced available for cultivation and pastur- 
age, while thousands of the roughest mountain acres are 
clothed with timber and ribbed with valuable mineral bearing 
veins. It is crossed from east to west by the great trans- 
continental railroad of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe 
system which operates over seventy miles of road within its 
borders, and is tapped from the north by the New Mexico 
division of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, which 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 253 

extends within the county from Espanola to Santa Fe, a 
distance of thirty miles. The Santa Fe Central Railwaj^ 
has its terminal at Santa Fe, giving the capital direct connec- 
tion with the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific system. The 
length of its main line in the county is fifty-five miles. A 
branch line of the Santa Fe system runs from Lamy to Santa 
Fe, a distance of eighteen miles. A short branch of the main 
line also extends to the Madrid coal fields. Wagon roads 
reach all the towns of the county, and a telephone is in 
operation from Santa Fe to Cerrillos. From the summit of 
Mount Baldy the surface presents a magnificent panorama 
of mountains, mesas and valleys, with many streams of water 
running down high mountain slopes, over precipices and 
boulders, into deep and narrow gorges and widening valleys, 
flashing in the sunlight like ribbons of silver in their hurried 
and heedless race to the Rio Grande on the west, and with 
lofty mountain peaks of southern and northern New Mexico 
swimming in the blue air of the dreamy distance. The main 
range of the Rockies, or the Sangre de Cristo range on the 
east and the Cochiti and Jemez mountains beyond the Rio 
Grande on the west, shelter this favored locality from violent 
winds and render the climate remarkably mild and equable, 
considering that the altitude of the valley varies from 5,500 to 
7,500 feet above sea level. Doubtless this circumstance 
together with the fertility of the soil, excellence of the water, 
plentitude of timber and the many marked manifestations of 
deposits of gold and silver bearing mineral a few miles south, 
prompted the intrepid Spanish explorers to locate a j^er- 
manent colony and mission at Santa Fe, or the City of the Holy 
Faith of St. Francis, as early as 1603. 

The wisdom for the selection has been well demonstrated 
during nearly four centuries that have since melted into the 
past. With the exception of the twelve years following the 
bloody and transiently successful revolt of the Pueblo Indians 
in 1680, Santa Fe has ever since been recognized as one of the 
most important outposts of civilization and commerce in the 
southwestern country, being continuously the political, 
ecclesiastical and military capital of this region under both 
Spanish and Mexican rule, and though it has since seen the 
frontier line of the United States carried thousands of miles 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 255 

out into the Pacific Ocean, it still maintains its supremacy as 
the Capital City of New Mexico, the county seat of Santa Fe 
county, and the most delightful residence city in the Rocky 
mountains. 

There are about 500,000 acres of pubhc land subject to 
entry under the homestead and desert land laws and 557,000 
acres more are included in Spanish and Mexican grants. It 
may be added further that the county affords about 470,000 
acres of good grazing land partly covered with timber and 
about 500,000 acres are arable land, 200,000 acres of which 
could be irrigated. In the absence of exact data, the land 
actually under cultivation by means of irrigation is conser- 
vatively estimated at 10,000 acres, while 5,000 acres more are 
yearly j^lanted to crops subject to chances of enough rain in 
the growingseason to mature them. Wherever the valley and 
mesa lands have been brought under the magic influence of 
systematic irrigation the results have uniformly proved 
most satisfactory and naturally this stimulates enterprise 
annually to enlarge and extend existing irrigation systems 
and thus gradually increase the number of acres that can be 
depended upon to yield regular crops. In addition to the Rio 
Grande, never dry within Santa Fe county and carrying a 
large volume of water, the Santa Cruz, the Nambe, the 
Pojoaque, the Santa Fe and the Santa Clara are the principal 
perennial streams, only part of whose waters are utilized for 
irrigation. There is a good range, not overstocked. The 
agricultural valleys produce deciduous fruits that are pro- 
nounced the finest that can be raised; alfalfa, cereals and 
vegetables. The mineral resources which include gold, silver, 
copper, lead, zinc and turquoise, made the county famous two 
centuries ago. The coal deposits are among the best in the 
southwest, the only anthracite coal bed in New Mexico being 
located here. Clay, lime, marble and sandstone of excellent 
quality are produced. The chmate is the best all around 
cHmate in the world. Owing to the historic interest, the cliff 
dwellings, the beauty of the scenery, its easy accessibility, 
its trout streams and its varied industries, Santa Fe county 
attracts many tourists and healthseekers. 

It contains a number of prosperous towns and settlements 
in addition to the territorial capital. Cerrillos is a mining 




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camp which has a good pubhc school and has a smelter, being 
the center of a rich mining country and near the extensive 
coal beds owned by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company at 
Madrid. Superior building stone is quarried near Cerrillos. 
In southern Santa Fe county is San Pedro, which when the 
last census was taken, had 451 people. Here a fine copper 
smelter has been erected to treat the ores of the extensive 
workings of the Santa Fe Gold and Copper Company. Near 
San Pedro is Golden, a prosperous mining camp of 323 per- 
sons. Galisteo is an old agricultural settlement in the center 
of a sheep and cattle district. Many nice ranches are in the 
vicinity. The precinct is credited with 736 people. Glorieta 
is the starting point for most of the travel and traffic for the 
upper Pecos river and the Pecos Forest Reserve, and near it 
are iron and copper ore deposits and coal veins and the 
interesting ruins of the abandoned Pecos pueblo. Moriarty is 
the most southern settlement of the county and is at the junc- 
tion of the Santa Fe Central and the proposed Albuquerque 
Eastern Railway. 

Northern Santa Fe county has a number of prosperous 
agricultural communities. These are Pojoaque, with 798 
inhabitants: Santa Cruz, which has 674; Tesuque, 34>s people, 
the settlement being across the divide, six miles from Santa 
Fe; San Idlefonso, 392 people, near which the government has 
completed an irrigation canal for the San Ildefonso Pueblo 
Indians. Chimayo, in the extreme northern part is credited 
with 319 people and Canoncito or Lamy, seventeen miles 
southeast of Santa Fe, with 323 people. Lamj^ is a railroad 
junction point. A quarry of building and limestone is located 
near the place. Extensive beds of plaster paris are found a 
few miles north of this point. While those settlements are not 
incorporated, yet they all have public schools and are the cen- 
ters of fertile agricultural, stock or mining districts. There 
are Indian pueblos all very interesting for their primitive and 
quaint characteristics. The largest is Santa Clara, with 223 
people; San Ildefonso, 137 inhabitants; Nambe, 81; Tesuque, 
80, and Pojoaque 12. Along the Santa Fe Central Railway a 
number of settlements have been located or townsites laid out. 
They are Kennedy, at the crossing of the Santa Fe Railway; 
Clark and Stanley near the O'Mara coal fields, Donaciano, on 





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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 259 

the Arroyo Hondo, Vega Blanca and Moriarty. At each of 
these points station buildings and store houses have been 
erected. 

Santa Fe, 

The historic seat of the government of the Territory of 
New^ Mexico, as v^ell as the county seat of Santa Fe 
county, and the see of an archbishop of the Roman 
Cathohc church, enjoys the distinction of being one of the 
oldest tov^ns and is the oldest capital in the United States. 
Its permanent settlement by Europeans antedates the 
founding of Jamestow^n and also the landing of the Pilgrim 
Fathers at Plymouth more than twenty years. The thrilling 
and romantic incidents composing its history; the protracted 
and bloody struggles with hordes of savage Indians; the 
capture and pillage by hostile Pueblos in 1680; the general 
massacre of missionaries and explorers and flight of the 
governor and a few followers in the night to El Paso; the 
reserving of some of the handsomest Spanish maidens for 
wives of favored warriors; the desecration and destruction of 
some of the Roman Catholic churches and the restoration of 
the worship of stone idols; the reconquest by Diego de 
Vargas twelve years later; the terrible punishment visited 
upon the rebellious pueblos; the change from Spanish rule to 
the rule of the triumphant Republic of Mexico; the capture 
by the United States forces under General Kearny and the 
building of Fort Marcy; the stirring scenes accompanying 
the distribution of the immense traffic of the Santa Fe Trail; 
the wild deeds of desperados and the fabulous hazards at 
cards in the days before the advent of the railroad, afford the 
material for an epic poem of deep interest. 

Here so carefully preserved that the marks of its 300 years 
of age are not perceptible, is located the noted "Adobe 
Palace," which was the official residence of the Spanish and 
Mexican governors and since the Mexican war, has been the 
headquarters of all the territorial governors or secretaries 
appointed by the different presidents of the United States. 
Here is situated the oldest house standing on American soil, 
and near is the San Miguel church, first built in 1540 and still 
used as a place of worship. Here are the beautiful and 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 261 

imposing new capitol building, the massive modern Cathedral 
of St. Francis, the large and enduring stone federal building, 
the modern penitentiary of New Mexico, San Miguel college, 
the Garita, the oldest cemetery in the southwest, old Fort 
Marcy, Guadalupe church, Rosario chapel, Loretto convent, 
St. Katherine's and the United States Indian Industrial 
schools, the New Mexico Industrial school for the deaf and 
dumb; Cathohc, Presbyterian, Episcopal and Methodist 
churches; the large Presbyterian Mission school, St. Vin- 
cent's Orphan school, besides many fine business blocks and 
pretty residences. Here, also side by side, are object lessons 
whereby the civilization of the seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries can be studied in contrast with that of the present 
day as nowhere else in America. 

Environed by protecting hills and thus exempt from strong 
winds and sandstorms: surrounded by enchanting natural 
scenery; beautified by orchards and gardens of flowers; 
blessed with a climate that is free from extremes of heat and 
cold, and air that is pure and tonic; supphed with an abun- 
dance of pure water for domestic, manufacturing and 
irrigation purposes from the extensive storage reservoirs in 
the mouth of the Santa Fe canon; furnished with competing 
rail, express and telegraph communication with all outside 
points; the headquarters of the federal and territorial 
officials, the meeting place of the legislature, the supreme 
court, the United States and territorial district courts and 
the various territorial boards; the see of the archbishop of 
Santa Fe; the location of the headquarters of the New Mexico 
Historical society; a city having started a modern sewerage 
system; preparing to build a fine modern central school house 
up to the highest standard of excellence and possessing a 
public school system with a good high school and four ward 
schools, and endowed by the national government for pubhc 
school purposes with the Fort Marcy reservation of almost 
twenty acres in the heart of the city, Santa Fe is naturally 
forging to the front as a popular residence town. 

It has besides the Cathedral, three Roman Cathohc 
churches, a Protestant Episcopal church, an English and a 
Spanish Presbyterian and Methodist church. 

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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 263 

two reservoirs of the Santa Fe Water and Light Company 
located above the city on the Rio Santa Fe cost about $300,000, 
and consist of a large reservoir or artificial lake secured by 
means of a semi-circular dam across the canon 600 feet long, 
350 feet wide, securely tied to the bed rock and 120 feet high, 
with mains and service pipes extending to every part of the 
city; and a smaller reservoir on the hih side which, with a 
new ditch line from the canon, supplies the power required 
to operate the city's electric light plant, which is supple- 
mented by steam. There is here the oldest bank in New 
Mexico. Its business houses command a large trade area 
and it is a gateway through which passes a big share of the 
wool and other products of Rio Arriba, Taos, San Juan and 
Santa Fe counties, as weh as of southern Colorado, bound for 
the south or for the east. 

The Woman's Board of Trade is a unique and characteristic 
institution. The public plaza and library are entirely under 
its direction. There are fine hotel accommodations; besides 
a sanitarium conducted by the good Sisters of Charity, 
and a tent city which offers comfortable homes to health- 
seekers and tourists. 

Draw a circle of fifty miles radius with Santa Fe as the 
center. It will take in the heart of New Mexico. Within it 
will be found a score of producing mining districts. Not only 
gold, but copper, silver, lead, zinc, iron, coal, turquoise, 
quarries of marble, building stone, hmestone, beds of clay, 
deposits of gypsum and veins of mica. 

In that circle are found some of the best agricultural lands 
in the southwest. Here are raised some of the best fruits, 
the best sugar beets, the best grains in the world, and it 
includes the Espanola, the Tesuque, the Chama, the Taos and 
other valleys. Within that circle there is room and chance 
for profitable irrigation enterprises. In that circle flow the 
waters of the Rio Grande, the Nambe, the Rio Pueblo, the 
Truchas, the Pojoaque, the Pecos, the Santa Clara, the Santa 
Cruz, the Chama and other streams, all perennial rivers with 
a never failing water supply in their upper courses. In that 
circle are found the water power, the fuel, the raw material 
for a hundred great industries. The circle is the most densely 
populated area in New Mexico or Arizona, and offers cheap 





SIERRA COUNTY MINING SCENES. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 265 

and plentiful labor for industrial enterprises and at the same 
time a good market. In that circle are superior sheep, cattle 
and goat ranges and forests. 

New Mexico has the finest climate in the world and in that 
circle is the best climate in New Mexico. Within it is the 
great Pecos River Forest Reserve, which insures a supply of 
water, a summer retreat for tourists, healthseekers, pleasure 
seekers, sportsmen and to the tired person who seeks quiet 
and rest in communion with nature in its most sublime and 
gentlest moods. Here are located the famous cliff dwelhngs, 
the pyramids of America, ten Indian pueblos, the oldest 
buildings in the United States, a hundred spots which awaken 
memories of the romance of the great stretch of time between 
the coming of the Conquistadores and the supplanting of the 
Santa Fe Trail by railroads. 

It is a circle invaded by three railroads and their important 
branches and connections, a circle near whose circumference 
are located the cities of Albuquerque and Las Vegas, which, 
with Santa Fe, form the three largest and most important 
towns in the future "Sunshine State." In the center of the 
circle lies the city, whose name is one to conjure with, a name 
given to one of the great transcontinental railway systems, a 
town whose very name is an invitation to the healthseeker, to 
the tourist, the capital of the coming Sunshine State, a 
county seat, an archbishop's see, the location of many federal, 
territorial. Catholic, Protestant church institutions, a town 
most charmingly situated, with a peerless climate all the year 
around, and a better summer climate than is possessed by 
any summer resort in the world, free from native consump- 
tion, malaria, enteric epidemics, mosquitoes,excessive summer 

heat. These and many more are the advantages, resources 
and attractions, the hub of which is the City of Santa Fe. 

Sierra County. 

Area 3,081 square miles. Population, census of 1900, 3,168. 
Present population, 5,000. Assessed valuation in 1903, 
$1,326,920. County seat, Hillsboro. Post offices : Hillsboro, 
Lake Valley, Engle, Fairview, Chloride, Las Palomas, 
Andrews, Kingston, Arrey, Hermosa, Monticello, Shandon, 
Philipsburg and Tierra Blanca. 





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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 



261 



Sierra is one of the smallest of New Mexico counties, only 
six having a less area, yet it covers 1,971,960 acres, or 3,081 
square miles, three times the area of the State of Rhode 
Island and more than one and a half times the area of the State 
of Delaware. Of this, 1,775,000 acres are subject to entry under 
the federal land laws, of which 274,379 acres are unsurveyed. 
Only 112,600 acres have been appropriated, and 84,000 acres 
are reserved. The census of 1900 gives the value of farms 
and hve stock as $1,829,000. 

Sierra county is rough and unbroken and the water sup- 
ply is scant, the precipitation ranging from four to six 
inches during the summer, while the total per annum is 
probably in the neighborhood of ten inches. Irrigation is 
generally confined to the valleys of the few small streams 
flowing eastward toward the Rio Grande. None of these, 
however, discharge water into the river, excepting during 
seasons of excessive snowfall or heavy summer rains. 
Although the water supply is small, it is constant and 
probably on this account a higher duty of water is reached in 
this district than in any other portion of the Territory. 
Altogether there are about 5,000 acres under cultivation, but 
with the available water supply, probably 50,000 acres could 
be cultivated. Dairy products are in demand and bring 
high prices. Anything that will grow in southern Kansas 
and Oklahoma will grow here. Crops are certain, for by 
irrigation the farmer escapes the vicissitudes of floods and 
drouth. Fruit does exceedingly well in the river valleys and 
there are a number of fine bearing orchards. Natural reser- 
voir sites are numerous. At comparatively small expense 
these advantages can be utilized for the storage of flood 
waters. The county has a fine range. It is one of the best 
stock counties in the Territory. There is a good underground 
water supply that can be developed by wells. Sheep men 
and goat raisers are beginning to realize that on account of 
the mild winters and the good range, Sierra county is a fine 
sheep and goat raising country. The county takes the lead 
in the New Mexico goat industry. In fact, its fame in that 
direction, is becoming national. Some of the highest grade 
prize Angora ewes and bucks are to be found on its famous 
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SCENES AT HILLSBORO. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 269 

are known in every one of the most important goat markets 
of the United States. The industry is proving very profitable. 
The county is a treasure house of precious metals. It has 
produced millions of dollars vi^orth of gold, silver and lead. 
The most important mining camps are Hillsboro, Lake Valley, 
Kingston, Fairview, Philipsburg, Shandon and a number of 
camps in the Black Range. The Santa Fe Railway passes 
through Sierra county from north to south. At Palomas Hot 
Springs are springs of remarkable medicinal virtue. 

Hillsboro 

is the largest settlement in the county and is the county seat, 
the court house being a handsome brick and stone trimmed 
structure. The town is reached by stage from Lake Valley in 
two hour's ride, the distance being less than sixteen miles. 
The town has a bank, a weekly newspaper, the Sierra County 
Advocate, good stores and is surrounded by gold and silver 
mines and placers reached by good roads. It is the oldest 
mining camp in the county, its mineral resources having been 
discovered in 1868. The predominating ore of the district is a 
quartz impregnated with copper and copper pyrites and car- 
rying gold in the proportion of one ounce to four or five of 
silver. The surface ores to a depth varying from fifty to 150 
feet, are much oxidized and constitute free milling ore. Copper 
is an important product, varying in percentage to the ton from 
one to twenty. There are four mills in and around Hillsboro. 
East of the lode mines is an extensive area, comprising 
several thousand acres and known as the placers. With crude 
dry washers some $500,000 in gold have been taken from 
these placers. In the valley between Hillsboro and the mines 
are warm springs having medicinal and curative properties. 

Socorro County. 

Socorro county is the largest of New Mexico counties, 
covering an area of 15,250 square miles, being as large as a 
European kingdom. Its resources correspond to its area, in 
variety and extent. It is first of all a stock grazing country, 
the number of sheep on its ranges going into the millions, 
and the number of cattle exceeding 100,000. Next to stock 
raising, mining is a great wealth producer, the Mogollon 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 271 

district alone lias yielded $5,000,000 in gold and silver. The 
Magdalena and Kelly districts have done almost as well in 
silver and lead and are now big producers of zinc. Rosedale 
produces gold, Estey copper and Water Canon, Socorro and 
other districts, the precious as well as the baser metals. 
There are extensive coal beds in the western part while the 
coal veins at Carthage are being actively worked. Lime, 
building stone, gypsum and salt are among the other mineral 
products. Agriculture in the Rio Grande Valley and along 
some of the minor streams is very successful. In the south- 
w^estern part, especially in the Gila Forest Reserve, there are 
large areas in timber. The Rio Grande traverses the county. 
Its principal tributary here is the Puerco. The Gila and the 
San Francisco rivers are important water sources in the 
western portion. The Santa Fe Railway, with a branch line 
from Socorro to Magdalena, furnishes railroad facilities. The 
population is 15,000. The post offices are: Alma, Burley, 
Bernardo, Bursum, Cienega, Clyde, Cooney, Datil, Estey, 
Frisco, Graham, Gran Quivira, Joseph, Jornado, Kelly, La 
Joya, Lava, Lemitar, Luna, Magdalena, Mogollon, Patterson, 
Puertocito, Polvadera, Paraje, Quemado, Rosedale, Reserve, 
Salt Lake, San Acacia, San Antonio, San Marcial and Socorro. 
In the county are greater areas of undeveloped natural 
wealth than in any other part of the Territory. The pros- 
pector, the farmer, the manufacturer, the reservoir and 
railroad builder all can find inducements here, which are 
worthy of careful investigation. 

Socorro, 

the county seat, is also the largest town. The census of 1900 
gave it 1,515 inhabitants. The country round about is rich 
in mineral and agricultural resources. The waters of the Rio 
Grande, which flow near the city, are ample to irrigate a large 
area, the waters of the Puerco and the Salado augmenting its 
volume considerably twenty or thirty miles north. The 
Carthage coal fields are so near to Socorro that they may be 
called tributary to the city, and the mining camps of Kellj^ 
Magdalena and Water Canon, are also tributary, making it a 
favorable smelter site. The town has large brick yards and 
three flouring mills. The city is beautifully situated on a table- 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 273 

land at the foot of Socorro mountain. The Rio Grande is about 
two miles from it. The city owns and controls its own water 
works, the supply being derived from warm springs of excep- 
tionally pure water flowing from the base of Socorro 
mountain. The town has two banking institutions, two weekly 
papers, the Socorro Chieftain and El Defensor del Pueblo, two 
substantial school buildings, churches and good business 
houses. The New Mexico School of Mines is located here. Its 
elevation is 4,567 feet. 

San Marcial, 

the second largest town, is attractive for the reason that 
twenty-one years ago the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe 
Railway Company planted great avenues of cottonwood trees, 
and these have constantly been added to by citizens, until 
now the town is known far and wide for the beauty and 
coolness of its groves. It is important commercially because 
it is the supply point for a large area of country. Four 
mercantile firms draw trade from a wide territory occupied 
by people engaged in the cattle and sheep business, and the 
neighboring towns of Clyde, Rosedale, Paraje, Engle and 
Chloride. Its population is a little above the 1,000 mark. 

The town has a beautiful park. It is a division headquarters 
of the Santa Fe Railway Company and here are located a 
round house and repair shops. A modern flouring mill is 
conducted for the convenience of a large number of farmers 
in the rich Rio Grande Valley. Fruitful orchards surround 
it, and it is a rich agricultural, horticultural, live stock and 
mining region. Alfalfa is extensively grown, and when there 
is an ample supply of water, which is taken from the Rio 
Grande through ditches, four crops in one season are of 
common occurrence. This finds a ready market, the price 
per ton ranging from $10 to $14. There is a good public 
school building and there are several churches. The town 
has a weekly newspaper, the San Marcial Bee. There is a 
bank and there are a goodly number of business firms. 
Located near the center of the Territory, at an elevati(m of a 
little over 4,000 feet, the climate makes it a sanitarium for 
consumptives. Here are to be found all the conditions for a 
healthy and happy life, with the opportunities to realize the 







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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 275 

maximum of profit in the lines of agriculture and horticulture. 
San Marcial is not devoid of historical interest. One of the 
features of the town is a large and extensive promontory 
known as the mesa. Here occurred the battle of Valverde, 
fought February 20, 1862, by General Sibley's Texans and 
the Union forces under General Canby. The severest part of 
the battle occurred about the present site of San Marcial. 
Frequently cannon balls and other relics are plowed up on the 
east side of the river. 

Carthage 

is a prosperous coal camp and is being connected by railroad 
with San Antonio, a lively commercial center on the Santa Fe 
Railway. At San Acacia, a weekly newspaper. El Comercio, 
is published. Near the settlement are copper ore deposits. 
Mogollon and Cooney are famous mining camps. 

Taos County. 

Area 2,265 square miles. Population 13,000; census of 
1900, 10,889. Assessed valuation in 1903, $677,820. County 
seat, Taos. Post offices : Taos, Ranchos de Taos, Llano, 
Penasco, Arroyo Seco, Questa, Arroyo Hondo, Cerro, Red 
River, Tres Piedras, Costilla, Ojo Caliente, Midnight, Agua 
del Lobo, Trampas, Twining, Valdez, Pima, Talpa and 
Chamisal. 

The county is the most picturesque and in many respects 
one of the richest in mineral resources in New Mexico. It is 
also one of the oldest in point of settlement by white men 
and one of the best watered. At one time it included Colorado 
south of the Arkansas river, Colfax and Mora counties and 
part of Rio Arriba county, but at present it is small in extent. 
Yet, its area is 1,470,000 acres, or 2,265 square miles, being 
more than twice the area of the State of Rhode Island and 305 
square miles more than the State of Delaware. Of this almost 
one-half, or 650,000 acres, are open to entry under the federal 
land laws; 300,000 acres are still unsurveyea. About 120,000 
acres are reserved and 700,000 acres are appropriated, 
about 600,000 acres being included in private land grants. 
The county is one of the most densely populated in the 
Territory, but could support five times its present popula- 
tion. The Rio Grande traverses it from north to south, 




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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 277 

but through rocky gorges, hence the cultivated lands are 
along its tributaries. The county is characterized by the 
great number of small perennial streams which, rising in high 
ranges on the east, debouch at about one-third the general 
width of the district upon the high mesas forming the central 
and western thirds and flow into the Rio Grande. 

The Taos range, comprising the catchment area from which 
these streams derive their waters, ranges in altitude from 
7,000 to 13,000 feet above sea level, with slopes tree-clad 
and with precipitation greater than in many sections of 
the Territory. Only one-half of the a\ailable water is used 
and with the building of storage reservoirs, the area under 
cultivation would be 200,000 acres instead of 20,000 acres. The 
cereals yield prolifically and vegetables and fruit grow well. 
The county is rich in gold, copper ores and other minerals, 
the principal mining camps being Red River, Glenwoody and 
Twining. There are a number of lesser camps. About 
200,000 sheep, 10,000 goats and 5,000 cattle graze on the 
ranges. At Ojo Caliente are famous medicinal hot springs. 
At Wamsley and near Taos are also hot springs w^hich attract 
many healthseekers. The railroad facilities are meager. The 
Denver and Rio Grande has not quite fifty miles of narrow 
gauge tracks in the extreme western part, near the Rio Arriba 
boundary line, but Tres Piedras is the only settlement of an}^ 
consequence it touches, although there is also a station at 
Embudo, which is several miles from the town of that name. 
The scenery along this railroad, especially from Embudo to 
Barranca, is among the grandest in the southwest. From 
Embudo and Tres Piedras stations to Taos there are roads 
with daily stage lines, while the mining camps of Red River 
and Amizett and the settlements of Cerro and Questa also 
have road connection as have to a lesser extent all the post 
offices. Recently a new road was completed from Taos to 
Servilleta, on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, making 
the distance from the county seat to the railroad only 
twenty-two miles. 

Portions of the county are heavily timbered. On account 
of the difficulty in bringing the merchantable timber from 
the steep mountain sides to the railroad, saw mills are in 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 279 

operation in various parts, the principal being near Questa, 
Truclias and Twining. 

Fernandez de Taos 

is the county seat and is romantically situated in a beautiful 
valley surrounded by mountains which rise abruptly from the 
plain. It is a very interesting town, quaintly built around a 
large plaza. The Roman Catholic church is of great antiquity. 
Before the advent of the railroads in New Mexico it was a com- 
mercial center of great importance and even today enjoys a 
good trade. Among the early American residents were Col. 
Kit Carson, Governor William Bent, who was assassinated 
here during the Pueblo insurrection, Colonel Ceran St.Vrain, 
Judge Beaubien, Lacien Stewart and others. Here the first 
printing press west of the Missouri river was set up in 1837 
by Rev. Antonio J. Martinez and the first newspaper, El 
Crepusculo, was pubhshed. A good public school, mission 
schools and a Loretto academy are the educational facihties 
of this town. A weekly newspaper, printed in Enghsh and 
Spanish, called Re vista de Taos, is pubhshed here. It has a 
population of 1,500. Only three miles to the northwest, under 
the shadow^s of the great mountains, and occupying both 
sides of a clear bright river, is the Pueblo of Taos, undoubt- 
edly the most interesting Indian settlement on all the Western 
Continent. Scores of tourists come to visit it annually, 
especially on its annual feast day, San Geronimo, September 
30. The Jicarilla Apache Indians, the Navajoes, as well as the 
pueblos from the south, send delegations to this festival, and 
the settlers from scores of miles around gather at the pueblo 
on that day. The population of the pueblo has decreased 
in numbers the past few decades, and is but few over 400 at 
present. The Indians cling tenaciously to their primitive 
customs. Ranchos de Taos is four miles south of Fernandez 
de Taos and is the largest settlement. It has two flouring 
mills and is surrounded by orchards. It is the center of 
60,000 acres of fertile land, of which one-sixth is under 
cultivation. It has a public school and is the headquarters of 
the Presbyterian missions of this section. The population 
is 1,800. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 281 

^.^ Red River 

is a romantically situated mining camp with about 300 
population, a good public school, and a weekly newspaper, the 
Red River Prospector. 

Tres Piedras 

is a railroad, mining and lumber town on the Denver and Rio 
Grande Railroad andadistributingpoint for the Bromide and 
Good Hope mining districts in Rio Arriba county, and the 
terminus of a daily stage line from Taos. A newspaper, the 
Mining Reporter, is pubhshed here. 

Embudo 

is a prosperous agricultural settlement on the Rio Grande, 
situated at the foot of high mountains. It has a railroad 
station several miles south of it, from where a daily stage 
line for Taos, Twining and other points starts. It has a pubhc 
school and a mission school. 

Twining, 

formerly Amizett, is a mining camp, with several hundred 
inhabitants. It is the headquarters of the Fraser Mountain 
Mining Company. The mill, smelter, electric power and light 
works, offices, etc., of this company are situated here. 

Questa and Cerro 

are prosperous agricultural settlements. Costilla, Pima, 
Agua del Lobo, Arroyo Seco, Llano, Trampas and Penasco, 
are agricultural settlements surrounded by fertile lands 
under cultivation. Picuris is a quiet Indian pueblo with a 
population of 100 and several historic buildings. 

Union County. 

Area 6,037 square miles. Population, census of 1900, 4,528. 
Since then the county has given 255 square miles to the 
formation of Quay county. Its present population is 6,500. 
Assessed valuation in 1903, $2,021,640. Post offices : Clayton, 
Folsom, Albert, Barney, Beenham, Bryantine;, Bueyeros, 
Clapham, Genova, Leon, De Haven, Exter, Pasamonte, 
Telesfora, Veda, Logan, Cuates, Gladstcme, Nara Visa, 
Garcia and Gallogos. 






SCENES AT CLAYTON, UNION COUNTY. 



THE LAND OP SUNSHINE. 283 

Union, the northeastern county of New Mexico, was formed 
in 1893 out of portions of Colfax, Mora and San Miguel 
counties. This county is the seventh in size in New Mexico, 
and the seventeenth in population. It is more than five times 
as large as Rhode Island, three times as large as Delaware and 
as large as the Hawaiian Islands. Of its area only 727,000 acres 
have been appropriated, while 3,140,000 acres are still subject 
to entry under the United States land laws or to lease from the 
territorial land board, which controls large tracts in the 
county under the United States donations to the territorial 
institutions and the public schools. 

Stock raising is the principal industry and the source of its 
wealth. It is one great range, well adapted to cattle growing 
and sheep raising. The mild winters, the free range and the 
nourishing grasses, make stock raising very profitable here. 
Of the 60,000 cattle on the range many are a good grade of 
Herefords, and a number of model stock farms are to be 
found. The number of sheep exceeds 600,000, it leading all 
others in the territory in the sheep industry. At Clayton, 
the county seat, 3,000,000 pounds of wool are sold annually, 
while buyers of lambs for feeding and breeding purposes, 
make frequent visits to Clayton and Folsom. Each year 
100,000 lambs are shipped to Colorado and Kansas City points, 
where they are fed for market. Of late years quite a number 
of cattlemen have been raising alfalfa on a small scale for 
feeding purposes. Altogether about 2,000 acres have been 
put under cultivation. The sheep growers will undoubtedly 
soon follow this example. The cattle men are rapidly improv- 
ing their stock by importing registered cattle from the states. 
The raising of goats is a growing industry as well as the 
breeding of horses for market, both proving profitable. Rail- 
roads afford good facilities for the shipment of stock. 

Whenever water is available for irrigation purposes, crops 
of grain, vegetables and fruits can be raised with unvarying 
annual success. There are a number of orchards in which 
every variety of fruit of the temperate zone is raised. Wild 
fruits and nuts grow in abundance along the streams and on 
the mountain slopes. If the flood waters which run down the 
river beds at certain seasons were stored, fully 100,000 acres 
could be brought under cultivation. Many natural reservoir 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 285 

sites exist. Ten miles west of Polsom, commences the John- 
son mesa, 8,000 feet high, extending into Colfax county 
almost to Raton, on which without irrigation fine potatoes are 
raised, also large crops of oats. 

Mining is in its infancy, but there are undoubted indications 
of gold, silver, copper and lead ores in various precincts. 
Coal deposits exist in the northern part, the veins being an 
extension of the Trinidad fields in Colorado. A good grade of 
bituminous coal is found near Clayton, and development work 
is being done in a desultory way. The distance from the 
railroad prevents these prospects from becoming producers. 
Coal veins also underlie Johnson's mesa. 

Indications of oil can be pointed out along many streams, 
and often in drilling for water, oil sands and rock are 
struck. Fine mineral springs are at Folsom, and there is but 
little doubt that artesian water will be found at a moderate 
depth. On Ute creek are deposits of pure alum, while 
excellent lime quarries are found and worked near Folsom. 

The Colorado and Southern Railroad crosses the northeast- 
ern corner for a distance of eighty-four miles. The Chicago, 
Rock Island and Pacific Railroad passes through its southern 
part. 

The climate is as good as is to be found in the United States. 
The altitude ranging from 4,000 to 8,000 feet, giving the air a 
lightness that is especially beneficial in pulmonary troubles. 
The nights are always cool and the summer heat is moderated 
by the altitude as well as the cool breezes from the mountains, 
while the cold in winter is tempered by the constant sunshine 
and protection which the mountains afford from high winds. 
The county seat is 

Clayton, 

situated in the northeastern part on the Colorado and Southern 
Railway. Here the federal land office for the northeastern 
part of New Mexico is situated. The town has a population 
of HOO. It has electric lights and water works, a telephone 
system, a very good public school system and a fine i^ublic 
school building, Methodist, Baptist and Christian churches 
many business establishments, a $20,000 court house, and 
contains nice homes. From here 3,000,000 pounds of wool, 160 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 287 

carloads of cattle, and 400 carloads of sheep and lambs are 
shipped annually. Two weekly newspapers, one in English, 
the Clayton Enterprise, and the other in Spanish, El Fenix, 
are published here. There is a national bank here. Of late 
years the town has attracted many healthseekers. Coal 
deposits are being w^orked in a small way near Clayton. 

Folsom 

is the second largest town, having a population of 750. It is 
situated on the Colorado and Southern Railway and is gaining 
fame as a health resort. It is 6,400 feet above sea level and 
is located in a beautiful valley. The Sierra Grande, twelve 
miles distant, rises to an altitude of 11,500 feet. During the 
summer months this mountain is one mass of flowers, and is 
a magnificent sight. Sierra Capulin, five miles from the town, 
is 9,500 feet high and is an extinct volcano with a perfect 
crater. The view from Capulin is grand. Nine miles from 
Folsom, on the Colorado and Southern Railway, are the so- 
called American Alps. Emery's Peak and Buffalo Head are 
also visible. Twin Mountains, Robinson's Peak, Dale's Peak 
and Red Mountain can be seen on clear days, and 330 days 
each year are clear at Folsom. The Cimarron Falls near the 
Hotel Capulin, a sanitarium built at a cost of §75,000 but not 
completed, are grand. Numerous springs bubble forth from 
the sides of the mountains inclosing the valley of the Cimarron 
in which Folsom is situated. The waters of some of the springs 
are almost absolutely pure, while others are charged with 
mineral and cure persons suffering from gout, rheumatism, 
neuralgia, stomach troubles and certain forms of kidney 
disease. Several sulphur springs and sulphur wells near 
Folsom are beneficial to persons suffering from skin diseases 
and impure blood. The most celebrated spring is in Oak 
canon, near the town, the waters of which are superior to 
those of the famous springs at Manitou, Colorado. These 
waters contain sulphur, magnesia and carbonic acid gas. 
Folsom is an important trade center. Immense sheep dipping 
tanks have been erected hej-e by the Colorado and Southern 
Railway and the shipments of wool, sheep, lambs and cattle 
from this point annually are very large. It has an $H,000 pubhc 
school house. Water is found anywhere in the Cimarron 



THE LAND OP SUxXSHINE. 289 

Valley at a depth of from fourteen to thirty feet and is free 
from alkali. Indications of gold, silver, copper and lead ores 
and coal are found near the town. Lime quarries are located 
near and the product is being utihzed in the manufacture of 
plaster. 

Valencia County. 

Area 7,944 square miles. Population, census of 1900, 13,895; 
present population, 18,000. Assessed valuation in 1903, 
11,359,786. County seat, Los Lunas. Post offices: Belen, 
Los Lunas, Jarales, Peralta, Tome, Publitos, Duran, Pinos 
Wells, Mountainair, Amado, Bluewater, Copperton, Cubero, 
Grant, Kettner, Laguna, Marquez, San Mateo, San Rafael, 
Sebolleta, Eastview, Manzano, Tajique, Torreon, Willard, 
Estancia, Punta and Encino. 

It is the third largest of New Mexico counties, covering an 
area of 7,944 square miles, which is more than seven times 
the area of the State of Rhode Island; more than four times 
the area of the State of Delaware; almost twice the area of the 
State of Connecticut, and greater than that of Hawaii. Of this 
vast stretch 3,400,000 acres are still unappropriated and are 
being taken up at the rate of ] 0,000 acres a year by home- 
steaders. Quite a large portion is included in private Spanish 
and Mexican grants, while about 401,000 acres are reserved. 

The principal stream is the Rio Grande, which passes 
through the county from north to south. There is a large area 
(^f irrigated land on both sides of the river along its entire 
course. The Puerco, which at times has a flood discharge of 
about 32,000 second feet, is a tributary of the Rio Grande 
and flows through the county. Along the Puerco and its 
tributaries, something like 14,000 acres are under irrigation. 
The character of the country through which the Puerco 
passes is hilly and broken. Its altitude ranges from 4,000 
to 7,000 feet and the annual precipitation is very light, 
averaging only seven inches. For that reason there are but 
few perennial streams in the whole drainage area. Naturally, 
in so large an area as that covered by Valencia county, almost 
every variety of topography is found. The Continental Divide 
crosses from north to south. East of the Rio Grande the 
Manzano is the principal mountain range, forming a water 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 291 

shed between the Rio Grande drainage basin and the dry- 
mesas of the eastern part. East of the Manzanos are the 
Pedernal and the Animas Hills. In the western part the 
Zuni mountains and the San Mateo range are the principal 
mountain systems. A vast lava bed extends the entire breadth 
of the county east of the Continental Divide. 

East of the Manzano mountains lies a region of low plains, 
bounded on the west by the timbered foothills of the Manza- 
nos and on the east by a low and barren ridge, terminating at 
the north in the hills of Pedernal and at the south in the 
Animas Hills. The abrupt exposure of the Jumanes mesa 
bounds this broad valley on the south, while on the north the 
plains continue almost unbroken to the San Pedro and Ortiz 
mountains and the rough country east of these groups. The 
southern portion of this valley is known as the Estancia 
plains, and is remarkable for the salt and alkali basins which 
occupy the central portion. The county is rich in minerals, 
but thus far but comparatively little has been done to make 
the mineral wealth available. Gold, silver, copper and iron 
ores, sulphur, lithographic stone, gypsum, brick clay, salt, 
pumice stone, ochre, building stone, cement, potash and most 
important of all, coal in almost limitless quantities, are found. 
During the year 1903, 500 tons of salt were taken from the 
salt lakes in this county. Gold, silver and copper ores exist in 
the Zuni mountains, in Hell Canon, where a mining camp has 
been established, and in the Manzanos. In the Zuni mountains, 
especially in the Copperton district, considerable develop- 
ment work has been done. Ochre is found in the foothills of 
the Gallinas, which extend into eastern Valencia county. 
More salt is exported from this county than from any other 
in the territory, and is hauled to market by wagons and by 
the Santa Fe Central Railway. 

It has a greater railroad mileage than any other county in 
the Territory. The Santa Fe Central crosses the eastern part 
from north to south from Moriarty to Bianca station. The 
Santa Fe Railway cuts the central portion from north to 
south, entering south of Isleta and leaving north of Sabinal, a 
distance of twenty-five miles. The Santa Fe Pacific Railroad 
commences at Isleta and leaves it northwest of Bluewater, 
the distance being eighty miles. 











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THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 293 

The El Paso and Rock Island Railway also crosses the 
eastern part of the county, but east of the Santa Fe Central, 
entering near the junction with the Santa Fe Central at 
Torrance, in Lincoln county, and leaving it near Pintada, in 
Leonard Wood county, a distance of thirty miles. The 
Eastern Railway of New Mexico, which the Atchison, Topeka 
and Santa Fe Railway is building to Puerco, will traverse 
the county from east to west for 160 miles, crossing the Rock 
Island, the Santa Fe Central at Willard and the Santa Fe 
line from Albuquerque to El Paso at Belen, forming a junction 
with the Santa Fe Pacific at Rio Puerco. When these lines 
are completed, and they will be in 1905, the county will have 
about 400 miles of railroad. The county has about 200 miles 
of telegraph and a telephone line extends from Albuquerque 
to Belen and Los Lunas. 

The lands under irrigation are very fertile and the climate 
is good for the raising of grain, vegetables and fruit. Wheat 
from Valencia county captured the first premium at the 
World's Fair at Chicago and again a gold medal at the 
Charleston Exposition, the wheat weighing fifty and one-half 
pounds per bushel. Oats grown on a farm six miles from Los 
Lunas took the second prize at the Columbian Exposition. 
The principal crops are wheat, barley, oats, corn, alfalfa and 
all vegetables and fruits of the south temperate zone. Some of 
the finest orchards in the southwest are located here. Grapes 
are grown in large quantities, the Mission grape predominat- 
ing, but other varieties sach as the Tokay, Sultana, Concord 
and Muscat do very well. Alfalfa is a staple crop in some of 
the valleys in the Zuni mountains and in several other hill 
districts, crops are grown without irrigation the rainfall being 
sufficient to mature them. The mild winters, cool summers, 
good water, nutritious grasses and sheltered valleys and 
canons have attracted the cattle raiser and the sheep grower. 
It is one of the leading sheep raising sections in New Mexico; 
it is estimated that there are within its limits, 400,000 or more 
sheep and thousands of cattle and horses. Lately, some 
attention has been paid to the raising of goats, and the success 
is such that the number of these animals will be very much 
on the increase during the next few years. At Belen is one 
of the largest flour mills in the Territory. At Laguna and 





BUSINESS HOUSES AT BELEN. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 295 

Peralta there are also fine modern flour mills. There are 
extensive timber lands which of late have attracted the 
attention of lumbermen and capitalists. The so-called Mitchell 
tract in the northwestern part covers 800,000 acres, on which 
it is estimated there are 2,000,000,000 feet of good white pine 
lumber. The American Lumber Company, a syndicate 
capitalized at §8,000,000, is cutting this timber. A logging 
road has been built from Thoreau on the Santa Fe Pacific to 
the tract. 

Belen 

is situated forty miles south of Albuquerque, in almost the 
exact geographical center of Valencia county, on the west 
bank of the Rio Grande. It has an altitude of 4,200 feet. Its 
population is 1,200. The stretch of country in the center of 
which the town is located cannot be excelled for fertilit}^ and 
productiveness. 

Belen stands above all other communities in New Mexico 
in that it has the largest merchandise establishment; the 
largest flour mill; is the largest railroad shipping point in 
proportion to population; raises the best grapes and holds the 
first prize for wheat at the World's Columbian Exi^osition at 
Chicago. 

Belen has several well established general merchandise 
stores, two general wholesale establishments and one roller 
mill. The First National Bank of Belen attends to the banking- 
business of the place. The Catholics as well as the Protestants 
have each a comfortable and commodious church edifice. In 
front of the Catholic church stands one of the most artistic 
architectural monuments in the southwest, the Felipe Chaves 
Mausoleum, built at a cost of $ir),000. 

The school facilities of Belen are good, there being three 
schools, the Felipe Chavez Girl's Academy, the Becker school 
and the public school. The Territory recently established an 
orphan's school here. The railroad facihties consist of the 
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway connecting the city 
with the extreme northern and southern portions of the 
Territory and the country that lies between. The Eastern 
Railway of New Mexico, now under construction, will give 




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THE LAND OP SUNSHINK, 297 

direct connection with the Santa Fe Central Railway and the 
El Paso and Northeastern. 

Los Lunas 

is the county seat and is situated on the west bank of the Rio 
Grande, twenty-four miles south of Albuquerque. The 
population is 1,000. it has a two story court house and a large 
Cathohc church. There is a substantial bridge across the Rio 
Grande opposite the town. There are two large general stores 
here. It is a prosperous shipping point, especially for wool 
and alfalfa. A rich agricultural and stock region surrounds 
it. The town is connected by telephone with Albuquerque. 

Estancia 

is situated in the eastern part of the county on the Santa Fe 
Central Railw^ay. It is the center of the beautiful Estancia 
plains. The Santa Fe Central has located here its railroad 
shops. The nearby salt and alkali lakes are to furnish the 
raw material for a salt mill. The town has a good school house. 

San Rafael 

claims to be the most populous settlement, having 1,500 
inhabitants. It is the center of a rich agricultural and stock 
section, and is located three miles from the Santa Fe Pacific 
Railroad, in the San Jose River Valley. Forty years ago it 
was known as old Fort Wingate. The lands around it are 
irrigated by the waters of El Gallo spring, the largest in 
New Mexico, tilhng a ditch of clear water six feet wide at the 
bottom and forty feet wide at the top. Along this stream 
there are rich agricultural lands covering 4,000 acres which 
produce all kinds of grain, vegetables and fruit. The fifth 
town in population is 

Peralta, 

the scene of a bloody battle in the Civil War. It is situated in 
the valley of the Rio Grande opposite Los Lunas and has 800 
inhabitants. It is connected by long distance telephone with 
Albuquerque, twenty miles north. The town has a fine flour 
mill and five general merchandise stores. There is one 
Roman Cathohc church and one Methodist church building. 



THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. 



299 



Conclusion. 

New Mexico is in the making. Tliough old in years, it is 
new in development. Its beauties and attractions are not seen 
from the railroad cars, nor can its resources be measured 
with a cursory glance. It is only those who have spent some 
time in traveling over its vast expanse, wiio have studied 
the possibilities of its latent wealth and who have stayed 
sufiiciently long to appreciate the charm of its blue sky and 
its perfect climate, and who have fallen under the spell of the 
romance and its unique beauty, who will declare that New 
Mexico is not only the peer, but that in many respects it is 
the superior of all other American commonwealths, be it in 
resources, opportunities, beauty or climate. 




THE SCENIC ROUTE ROAD NEAR SANTA FE. 





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INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS AT ALBUQUERQUE. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



SUBJECT PAQj, 

A Land of Opportunities 1 

Statistics 2 

Physical Features 25 

Geology 27 

River Systems 35 

Irrigation 39 

Agriculture 45 

Dairying, Poultry and Apiary 65 

Horticulture 57 

Sugar Beets 77 

Tobacco 81 

Cotton 83 

The Soil 83 

How to Secure a Homestead 89 

The Stock Industry 91 

Timber 93 

Mining 93 

Manufacturing Industries 95 

Railroads 97 

Climate lOi 

Mineral and Hot Springs 119 

Attractions for Tourists 1 25^ 

Counties, Cities and Towns I39 

Bernalillo County I39 

Chaves County I49 

Colfax County 1 55 

Dona Ana County 151 

Eddy County 169 

Grant County 1 73 

Leonard Wood County 179 

Lincoln County : 183 

Luna County 191 

McKinley County I97 

Mora County 203 

Otero County 209 

Quay County 215 

Rio Arriba County 219 

Roosevelt County 223 

Sandoval County 233 

San Juan County 239 

San Miguel County 243 

Santa Fe County 251 

Sierra County 265 

Socorro County 269 

Taos County 275 

Union County 28 1 

Valencia County 289 





ON THE SCENIC ROUTE ROAD NEAR SANTA FE. 



OCT 10 m4 



